Natural variants of C. elegans demonstrate defects in both sperm function and oogenesis at elevated temperatures.

The temperature sensitivity of the germ line is conserved from nematodes to mammals. Previous studies in C. briggsae and Drosophila showed that isolates originating from temperate latitudes lose fertility at a lower temperature than strains originating from tropical latitudes. In order to investigat...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Lisa N Petrella
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2014-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4224435?pdf=render
_version_ 1818613721357877248
author Lisa N Petrella
author_facet Lisa N Petrella
author_sort Lisa N Petrella
collection DOAJ
description The temperature sensitivity of the germ line is conserved from nematodes to mammals. Previous studies in C. briggsae and Drosophila showed that isolates originating from temperate latitudes lose fertility at a lower temperature than strains originating from tropical latitudes. In order to investigate these relationships in C. elegans, analysis of the fertility of 22 different wild-type isolates of C. elegans isolated from equatorial, tropical and temperate regions was undertaken. It was found that there are significant temperature, genotype and temperature × genotype effects on fertility but region of isolation showed no significant effect on differences in fertility. For most isolates 100% of the population maintained fertility from 20°C to 26°C, but there was a precipitous drop in the percentage of fertile hermaphrodites at 27°C. In contrast, all isolates show a progressive decrease in brood size as temperature increases from 20°C to 26°C, followed by a brood size near zero at 27°C. Temperature shift experiments were performed to better understand the causes of high temperature loss of fertility. Males up-shifted to high temperature maintained fertility, while males raised at high temperature lost fertility. Down-shifting males raised at high temperature generally did not restore fertility. This result differs from that observed in Drosophila and suggested that in C. elegans spermatogenesis or sperm function is irreversibly impaired in males that develop at high temperature. Mating and down-shifting experiments with hermaphrodites were performed to investigate the relative contributions of spermatogenic and oogenic defects to high temperature loss of fertility. It was found that the hermaphrodites of all isolates demonstrated loss in both spermatogenic and oogenic germ lines that differed in their relative contribution by isolate. These studies uncovered unexpectedly high variation in both the loss of fertility and problems with oocyte function in natural variants of C. elegans at high temperature.
first_indexed 2024-12-16T16:06:37Z
format Article
id doaj.art-64dc00708e5c4d758f642ab7cdc248f3
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 1932-6203
language English
last_indexed 2024-12-16T16:06:37Z
publishDate 2014-01-01
publisher Public Library of Science (PLoS)
record_format Article
series PLoS ONE
spelling doaj.art-64dc00708e5c4d758f642ab7cdc248f32022-12-21T22:25:21ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032014-01-01911e11237710.1371/journal.pone.0112377Natural variants of C. elegans demonstrate defects in both sperm function and oogenesis at elevated temperatures.Lisa N PetrellaThe temperature sensitivity of the germ line is conserved from nematodes to mammals. Previous studies in C. briggsae and Drosophila showed that isolates originating from temperate latitudes lose fertility at a lower temperature than strains originating from tropical latitudes. In order to investigate these relationships in C. elegans, analysis of the fertility of 22 different wild-type isolates of C. elegans isolated from equatorial, tropical and temperate regions was undertaken. It was found that there are significant temperature, genotype and temperature × genotype effects on fertility but region of isolation showed no significant effect on differences in fertility. For most isolates 100% of the population maintained fertility from 20°C to 26°C, but there was a precipitous drop in the percentage of fertile hermaphrodites at 27°C. In contrast, all isolates show a progressive decrease in brood size as temperature increases from 20°C to 26°C, followed by a brood size near zero at 27°C. Temperature shift experiments were performed to better understand the causes of high temperature loss of fertility. Males up-shifted to high temperature maintained fertility, while males raised at high temperature lost fertility. Down-shifting males raised at high temperature generally did not restore fertility. This result differs from that observed in Drosophila and suggested that in C. elegans spermatogenesis or sperm function is irreversibly impaired in males that develop at high temperature. Mating and down-shifting experiments with hermaphrodites were performed to investigate the relative contributions of spermatogenic and oogenic defects to high temperature loss of fertility. It was found that the hermaphrodites of all isolates demonstrated loss in both spermatogenic and oogenic germ lines that differed in their relative contribution by isolate. These studies uncovered unexpectedly high variation in both the loss of fertility and problems with oocyte function in natural variants of C. elegans at high temperature.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4224435?pdf=render
spellingShingle Lisa N Petrella
Natural variants of C. elegans demonstrate defects in both sperm function and oogenesis at elevated temperatures.
PLoS ONE
title Natural variants of C. elegans demonstrate defects in both sperm function and oogenesis at elevated temperatures.
title_full Natural variants of C. elegans demonstrate defects in both sperm function and oogenesis at elevated temperatures.
title_fullStr Natural variants of C. elegans demonstrate defects in both sperm function and oogenesis at elevated temperatures.
title_full_unstemmed Natural variants of C. elegans demonstrate defects in both sperm function and oogenesis at elevated temperatures.
title_short Natural variants of C. elegans demonstrate defects in both sperm function and oogenesis at elevated temperatures.
title_sort natural variants of c elegans demonstrate defects in both sperm function and oogenesis at elevated temperatures
url http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4224435?pdf=render
work_keys_str_mv AT lisanpetrella naturalvariantsofcelegansdemonstratedefectsinbothspermfunctionandoogenesisatelevatedtemperatures