Social and sexual behaviors in C. elegans: the first fifty years

• Published in: Journal of neurogenetics Vol. 34; no. 3-4; pp. 389 - 394
• Main Author: Portman, Douglas S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Taylor & Francis 01-10-2020
• Subjects: C. elegans; pheromones; sexual behavior; social behavior; pheromones; C. elegans; sexual behavior; social behavior
• ISSN: 0167-7063; 1563-5260
• DOI: 10.1080/01677063.2020.1838512

For the first 25 years after the landmark 1974 paper that launched the field, most C. elegans biologists were content to think of their subjects as solitary creatures. C. elegans presented no shortage of fascinating biological problems, but some of the features that led Brenner to settle on this species-in particular, its free-living, self-fertilizing lifestyle-also seemed to reduce its potential for interesting social behavior. That perspective soon changed, with the last two decades bringing remarkable progress in identifying and understanding the complex interactions between worms. The growing appreciation that C. elegans behavior can only be meaningfully understood in the context of its ecology and evolution ensures that the coming years will see similarly exciting progress.