An analysis of behavioral plasticity in male Caenorhabditis elegans

Caenorhabditis elegans is a simple soil-dwelling nematode which has two sexes, hermaphrodite and male. The male C. elegans is differentiated from the hermaphrodite by the presence of 14 sensory structures in the tail. In this study, we compared the behavioral responses of males and hermaphrodites to head-touch and to tap. We hypothesized that the anatomical difference in sensory structures might result in behavioral differences in the reversal response to vibratory stimulation (a tap to the side of the holding dish). In the response to increasing intensities of tap, both sexes showed an increase in response magnitude, with the males showing larger responses than hermaphrodites. In addition, the male was shown to be capable of simple nonassociative learning: it demonstrated habituation and recovery from habituation in a similar manner as the hermaphrodite. Tail-touch-induced inhibition of the reversal response appeared to be similar in males and hermaphrodites. The evidence suggests that the touch withdrawal circuit in hermaphrodites is also present in the male C. elegans, and that the subtle differences in response to tap seen in males may result from the additional sensory receptors of the copulatory bursa of the tail. It seems clear from these studies that these structures do not play a key role in the male worm's response to tap.