How mothers predict the future: epigenetics and environment

Sudden environmental changes are challenging for the survival of many organisms.

Some organisms evolved mechanisms to cope with uncertainty, by sensing the environment and transmitting selected adaptive traits to the next generation.

We use the nematode Auanema freiburgensis as model to study the mechanisms by which environmental signals sensed by the mother results in the modification of the germline to produce stress-resistant progeny. In this nematode, chemicals produced by nematodes of the same species are used as signals for overcrowding.

Thus, by sensing these chemicals, the mother 'prepares' the progeny to withstand the lack of food that occurs in overcrowded conditions. The progeny arrests development in the form of larvae, and can survive in the absence of food for several months. Once in a benign environment, the larvae resume development to become self-fertilizing adults.

The main objectives of the project are to identify the chemical nature sensed by the mothers, how the sensory neurons convey the information to the gonad, and how the germline changes result in different kinds of progeny.