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A wax ester promotes collective host finding in the nematode Pristionchus pacificus.

Penkov S, Ogawa A, Schmidt U, Tate D, Zagoriy V, Boland S, Gruner M, Vorkel D, Verbavatz JM, Sommer RJ, Knölker HJ, Kurzchalia TV

Survival of nematode species depends on how successfully they disperse in the habitat and find a new host. As a new strategy for collective host finding in the nematode Pristionchus pacificus, dauer larvae synthesize an extremely long-chain polyunsaturated wax ester (nematoil) that covers the surface of the animal. The oily coat promotes congregation of up to one thousand individuals into stable 'dauer towers' that can reach a beetle host more easily.

Fig.1 taken from Penkov et al, 2014.
  • Nat. Chem. Biol. 2014 Apr 02;10(4):281-5
  • 2014
  • Cell Biology
  • 24584102
  • PubMed

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