Caenorhabditis elegans avoids Todstoff, a novel nociceptive necrotaxis cue

Abstract

To survive in hazardous environments, organisms must navigate and avoid myriad threats. Many species across phyla detect warning cues in the remains of dead or injured conspecifics, allowing them to enact defensive strategies and avoid a similar fate. Here, we demonstrate that Caenorhabditis elegans senses a novel aversive cue (which we term Todstoff, or death substance) present in the remains of dead worms that induces living conspecifics to perform negative necrotaxis behaviors. Todstoff is distinct from previously-identified social signals in C. elegans, including ascaroside and alarm pheromones, and our biochemical analysis has revealed that Todstoff may be a protein-associated amino acid derivative less than 1.35 kDa in size. We determined that Todstoff is sensed by the ASH polymodal nociceptive neurons, and further, that the necrotaxis signal is transduced via the activity of G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR) signaling, the Gi/o-like protein ODR-3, TRPV channels OSM-9 and OCR-2, and glutamatergic synaptic transmission to downstream AIB interneurons. Taken together, our work illuminates a post-mortem inter-animal chemical signaling pathway that promotes death avoidance, and thus, survival.