426: Sensory Cilia Supply Susceptibility

This episode: A fungus paralyzes its tiny worm prey by acting on
the worm's own sensory hairs!


Download Episode (6.0 MB, 8.7 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Bat associated cyclovirus 9

Takeaways



Not all predators are fast or agile; some are sneaky, or good
trap builders, or just good chemists. The predator club
includes animals but also plants and even fungi. For example,
the oyster mushroom fungus can paralyze roundworms in the soil
that touch its filaments, then degrade their bodies and consume
their nutrients.


 


The mechanism of this paralysis has been a mystery, but it's
one step closer to being solved. This study found that intact
sensory cilia, little hairs on the worm's head that help it
sense its surroundings, are required for the paralysis to work.
Worms with mutations in the structure of their cilia were
protected from paralysis. How exactly the fungus acts on these
cilia and the neurons they connect to, though, is still
unknown.




Journal Paper:
Lee C-H, Chang H-W, Yang C-T, Wali N, Shie J-J, Hsueh Y-P. 2020.
Sensory cilia as the Achilles heel of nematodes when attacked by
carnivorous mushrooms. Proc Natl Acad Sci 117:6014–6022.


Other interesting stories:



Bread waste could be good food for useful fermentations

Symbiotic bacteria in beetle picked up gene that helps
defend beetle eggs from fungus




 


Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot
com. Thanks for listening!


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