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Circadian stress tolerance in adult Caenorhabditis elegans

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Abstract

Circadian rhythms control several behaviors through neural networks, hormones and gene expression. One of these outputs in invertebrates, vertebrates and plants is the stress resistance behavior. In this work, we studied the circadian variation in abiotic stress resistance of adult C. elegans as well as the genetic mechanisms that underlie such behavior. Measuring the stress resistance by tap response behavior we found a rhythm in response to osmotic (NaCl LC50 = 340 mM) and oxidative (H2O2 LC50 = 50 mM) shocks, with a minimum at ZT0 (i.e., lights off) and ZT12 (lights on), respectively. In addition, the expression of glutathione peroxidase (C11E4.1) and glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (gpdh-1) (genes related to the control of stress responses) also showed a circadian fluctuation in basal levels with a peak at night. Moreover, in the mutant osr-1 (AM1 strain), a negative regulator of the gpdh-1 pathway, the osmotic resistance rhythms were masked at 350 mM but reappeared when the strain was treated with a higher NaCl concentration. This work demonstrates for the first time that in the adult nematode, C. elegans stress responses vary daily, and provides evidence of an underlying rhythmic gene expression that governs these behaviors.

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Abbreviations

CGC:

Caenorhabditis Genetics Center

CT:

Circadian time

DAF:

Abnormal Dauer formation

DD:

Dark–dark (constant darkness)

FuDR:

Fluorodeoxyuridine

GPDH:

Glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase

GPX:

Glutathione peroxidase

HSP:

Heat shock protein

LC50 :

Lethal concentration 50

LD:

Light–dark

MSRA:

Methionine sulfoxide-S-reductase

NGM:

Nematode growth medium

OSR:

Osmotic stress-resistant

ZT:

Zeitgeber time

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by funding from the National Science Agency and the National University of Quilmes (Argentina). SHS is a fellow of the National Scientific and Technical Investigations Council (CONICET), and AR had fellowships from the Pharmaceutical and Chemical Industry Studies Center (CEDIQUIFA) and the Scientific Investigations Commission (CIC). Studies in Chile were supported by the National Science and Technology Research Council of Chile (CONICYT). The strains used in this work were provided by the CGC center, which is supported by the NIH, and the C. elegans knockout consortium.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Ciencia y Tecnología, Universidad Nacional de Quilmes, Roque S. Peña 352, (1876), Bernal, Pcia de Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Sergio H. Simonetta, Andrés Romanowski & Diego A. Golombek

  2. National Research Council (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Sergio H. Simonetta, Andrés Romanowski & Diego A. Golombek

  3. Centro de Regulación Celular y Patología “Joaquín V. Luco” (CRCP), MIFAB, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile

    Alicia N. Minniti & Nibaldo C. Inestrosa

Authors
  1. Sergio H. Simonetta
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  2. Andrés Romanowski
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  3. Alicia N. Minniti
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  4. Nibaldo C. Inestrosa
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  5. Diego A. Golombek
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Diego A. Golombek.

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S.H. Simonetta and A. Romanowski contributed equally to this study.

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Simonetta, S.H., Romanowski, A., Minniti, A.N. et al. Circadian stress tolerance in adult Caenorhabditis elegans . J Comp Physiol A 194, 821–828 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-008-0353-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-008-0353-z

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