Worms adapt their food-gathering strategy by altering their response to social signals
In a groundbreaking study, researchers have uncovered how Caenorhabditis elegans worms optimize their foraging activity by switching their response to pheromones in their environment. The report, published in the prestigious journal eLife, was authored by Martina Dal Bello.
The study focuses on understanding how long a worm should stay and exploit a food patch before moving on to find another. To assess the worms' patch-leaving behaviour, the team conducted an experiment where they fed the worms on a small patch of bacteria and observed their movement towards pheromones or non-pheromone control spots.
The mathematical model developed by the researchers was designed to calculate the benefit to the worms of changing their preference for pheromones in a patchy environment. However, the study does not provide information about the model or the benefits calculated for the worms in a patchy environment.
The model showed that the strategy that maximizes the food eaten by a worm aligns with the behaviour observed in the experiment. The findings suggest that worms optimize their food intake during foraging by adapting to sensory cues in their environment.
Worms learn to prefer pheromones based on their recent positive or negative experience with foraging. For instance, worms that leave later when food is sparse associate pheromones with being famished and avoid pheromones when they move away from the patch. On the other hand, worms that leave early are exposed to pheromones when food is abundant and have a positive association with these cues.
Interestingly, worms that spend time in the presence of both food and pheromones move towards pheromone blends. This behaviour indicates that the worms are learning to associate pheromones with the presence of food.
The study provides evidence that worms adapt their response to pheromones based on their foraging experience. This finding provides new insights on how sensory cues are integrated to facilitate foraging and navigation in animals.
Foraging food is a critical yet challenging activity for animals, often with food patchily distributed and other animals competing for the same resources. By understanding how worms optimize their foraging behaviour, researchers hope to gain a better understanding of how animals adapt to their environment and make decisions about where to find food.
The study does not mention any new tests or observations beyond the one assessing the worms' patch-leaving behaviour and their reaction to a blend of pheromones. However, the findings are significant in shedding light on the complex processes that govern animal behaviour and could potentially lead to new strategies for improving food production and conservation efforts.
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