| Summary: | Many organisms change their life history, size, and shape in response to environmental
signals. Although touted as a ‘developmentally hardwired’ system, the soil-dwelling nematode
C. elegans is no exception. Previous research has shown that sensory perception mutants are
smaller than wild-type worms (Fujiwara et al., 2005). This suggests that sensory input from the
environment can regulate the neuroendocrine functions controlling adult body size. Based on this
thesis and the work in Rose et al. (2005), I propose that cues from conspecifics are one source of
sensory input capable of affecting body size. Rose et al. (2005) found that worms reared in
isolation have a decreased response to mechanical stimulation, a down-regulation of a pre- (snb
1) and post-synaptic (gir-1) marker in the mechanosensory neural circuit, and delayed physical
development compared to worms reared in groups (colony worms). In this thesis I propose that
colony worms integrate mechanosensory and chemosensory information to modulate growth in
response to the presence of another worm. Using several sensory perception mutants I’ve
identified the sensory neurons that are required for colony worms to grow bigger than isolated
worms. === Medicine, Faculty of === Medical Genetics, Department of === Graduate
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