C. elegans: social interactions in a "nonsocial" animal

Abstract

As self-fertilizing nematodes, Caenorhabditis elegans do not normally come to mind when one thinks of social animals. However, their reproductive mode is optimized for rapid population growth, and although they do not form structured societies, conspecifics are an important source of sensory input. A pheromone signal underlies multiple complex behaviors, including diapause, male-mating, and aggregation. The use of C. elegans in sociogenetics research allows for the analysis of social interactions at the level of genes, circuits, and behaviors. This chapter describes natural polymorphisms in mab-23, plg-1, npr-1, and glb-5 as they relate to two C. elegans social behaviors: male-mating and aggregation.