The many roads to C. elegans dauer arrest: A review and perspective: Dauer in C. elegans

Kavinila Selvarasu; Abhishiktha Godthi; Veena Prahlad

doi:10.1007/s12038-025-00517-3

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The many roads to C. elegans dauer arrest: A review and perspective: Dauer in C. elegans

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The many roads to C. elegans dauer arrest: A review and perspective: Dauer in C. elegans

Kavinila Selvarasu, Abhishiktha Godthi and Veena Prahlad

Journal of biosciences, Vol.50(2), 41

05/15/2025

DOI: 10.1007/s12038-025-00517-3

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Abstract

The Caenorhabditis elegans dauer stage is an alternative developmental stage to the third larval stage of the nematode. The decision to enter the dauer stage instead of continuing development into reproductive adults is triggered during the late larval stage 1 (L1)/early larval stage 2 (L2) by environmental stressors such as starvation, crowding, or extreme temperatures. Several regulatory pathways can trigger the dauer decision. These pathways, which include the insulin signaling pathway (ILS), the TGF-β pathway, and the more recently discovered cytokine interleukin ILC-17.1 pathway, appear to act as independent and parallel inputs into the C. elegans developmental program. In this review, we discuss these regulatory pathways and their possible interactions, with a focus on the lesser-studied ILC-17.1 pathway. We then briefly discuss the intriguing possibility that the many routes into dauer can drive differences in gene expression in dauer larvae, which, if they persist, could allow dauers to survive in and exploit different niches upon their exit from the dauer state.

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Title: Subtitle: The many roads to C. elegans dauer arrest: A review and perspective: Dauer in C. elegans
Creators: Kavinila Selvarasu - Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center
Abhishiktha Godthi - Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center
Veena Prahlad - Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Journal of biosciences, Vol.50(2), 41
Publisher: Springer India
DOI: 10.1007/s12038-025-00517-3
ISSN: 0250-5991
eISSN: 0973-7138
Grant note: NIH: R01 AG060616
We thank the V.P. laboratory for their input. This work was supported by NIH R01 AG060616 (VP). We apologize for the literature omitted inadvertently or owing to space limitations.
Language: English
Date published: 05/15/2025
Academic Unit: Biology
Record Identifier: 9984823075402771

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