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Published on: January 1, 2016
Quiescent behavior in response to bacterial infection in C. elegans
Daniel Moses1, Carly A Needham2, Hilary DeBardeleben2
1Department of Biological Sciences, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States.
Abstract:
Sickness behaviors serve an important role in recovery from infection. Using the WorMotel and a motivated displacement assay, we show that C. elegans engages in quiescent behavior following infection with Serratia marcesens , a bacterial pathogen. This quiescence is increased with increasing severity of the infection. Furthermore, we show this behavior is distinct from stress-induced sleep due to a lack of feeding quiescence and regulation by sleep-inducing neurons.
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