Evidence map›Paper›PMID 26013573›Full record

ArticleScientific reports2015

Starvation-induced collective behavior in C. elegans.

Alexander B Artyukhin, Joshua J Yim, Mi Cheong Cheong, Leon Avery

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Scientific reports, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
24citing papers in PubMed
1.0field-weighted citation impact, top 28% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

24 citing papers in PubMed, 49 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Phenotypic and metabonomics studies of FMOs in C. elegans and their roles in lifespan extension.Metabolomics : Official journal of the Metabolomic Society · 2025
    Article
  2. microPublication biology · 2025
    Article
  3. On collective behavior inFrontiers in neurorobotics · 2025
    Review
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Challenges of mismatching timescales in longitudinal studies of collective behaviour.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2023
    Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Effect of 9,12-Octadecadiynoic Acid on Neurobehavioral Development inInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2021
    Article
  10. Article
  11. A Keller-Segel model for C elegans L1 aggregation.PLoS computational biology · 2021
    Article
  12. Article
  13. Review
  14. Review
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Review
  18. Article
  19. Review
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.

Alexander B ArtyukhinDepartment of Physiology and Biophysics, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA 23298, USA.
Joshua J YimDepartment for Evolutionary Biology, Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology, Tubingen, Germany.
Mi Cheong CheongDepartment of Physiology and Biophysics, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA 23298, USA.
Leon AveryDepartment of Physiology and Biophysics, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA 23298, USA.
Ithaca College · USMax Planck Institute for Developmental Biology · DEThe University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center · USVirginia Commonwealth University · US

Funding

Enhancing and expanding the CGC Strain CollectionP40OD010440 · OD · UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA · PI Ann E. Rougvie · 2012 to 2026
$7.5M
Genetics of nematode pharyngeal muscle excitabilityR37HL046154 · NHLBI · VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY · PI AVERY, LEON · 2004 to 2013
$2.8M
GENETICS OF NEMATODE PHARYNGEAL MUSCLE EXCITABILITYR01HL046154 · NHLBI · UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS SW MED CTR/DALLAS · PI AVERY, LEON · 1991 to 2003
$957k
NHLBI NIH HHS HL046154NHLBI NIH HHS R01 HL046154NHLBI NIH HHS R37 HL046154NIH HHS P40 OD010440
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

We describe a new type of collective behavior in C. elegans nematodes, aggregation of starved L1 larvae. Shortly after hatching in the absence of food, L1 larvae arrest their development and disperse in search for food. In contrast, after two or more days without food, the worms change their behavior--they start to aggregate. The aggregation requires a small amount of ethanol or acetate in the environment. In the case of ethanol, it has to be metabolized, which requires functional alcohol dehydrogenase sodh-1. The resulting acetate is used in de novo fatty acid synthesis, and some of the newly made fatty acids are then derivatized to glycerophosphoethanolamides and released into the surrounding medium. We examined several other Caenorhabditis species and found an apparent correlation between propensity of starved L1s to aggregate and density dependence of their survival in starvation. Aggregation locally concentrates worms and may help the larvae to survive long starvation. This work demonstrates how presence of ethanol or acetate, relatively abundant small molecules in the environment, induces collective behavior in C. elegans associated with different survival strategies.

Indexed as

StarvationAcetatesAlcohol DehydrogenaseAnimalsCaenorhabditis elegansCaenorhabditis elegans ProteinsEthanolFatty AcidsLarvaAcetatesAlcohol DehydrogenaseCaenorhabditis elegans ProteinsEthanolFatty Acids

Identifiers

PMID26013573
PMCPMC4445038
OpenAlexW405056605

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.