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Dietary E. coli promotes age-dependent chemotaxis decline in C. elegans
Nadia Suryawinata1,2, Rikuou Yokosawa1,3, Ke Hui Cassandra Tan1
1Group of Nutritional Neuroscience, Graduate School of Science, Neuroscience Institute, Nagoya University, Nagoya, 464-8602, Japan.
Scientific Reports
|March 6, 2024
Summary
Diet significantly impacts aging animals' sense of smell. Specific diets, like E. coli, accelerate olfactory decline, while others, like L. reuteri or food deprivation, preserve it, revealing molecular mechanisms.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Aging Research
- Sensory Biology
Background:
- Odor perception diminishes with age.
- Internal states like satiety influence olfactory drive.
- The effect of internal states on age-related olfactory decline is not well understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how dietary conditions modulate age-dependent decline in odor sensation.
- To explore the molecular mechanisms underlying diet-induced changes in chemosensory behavior during aging.
Main Methods:
- Utilized the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans.
- Compared chemotaxis abilities toward attractive odorants in aged worms under different dietary conditions (E. coli, L. reuteri, food deprivation).
- Analyzed the expression of the diacetyl receptor gene odr-10 and the role of daf-16 in aged animals under food deprivation.
Main Results:
- Feeding with Escherichia coli attenuated chemotaxis ability toward diacetyl, isoamyl alcohol, and benzaldehyde in aged C. elegans.
- Feeding with Lactobacillus reuteri or food deprivation selectively maintained chemotaxis ability toward diacetyl.
- Changes in chemotaxis behavior were linked to differential expression of the odr-10 gene; aged animals under food deprivation showed daf-16-dependent behavior.
Conclusions:
- Ingestion of E. coli accelerates age-dependent decline in chemotaxis.
- Dietary interventions can preserve age-related chemosensory function.
- This study elucidates the molecular basis for diet's influence on age-related decline in chemosensory behaviors.
