TY - JOUR
T1 - Two size-selective mechanisms specifically trap bacteria-sized food particles in Caenorhabditis elegans
AU - Fang-Yen, Christopher
AU - Avery, Leon
AU - Samuel, Aravinthan D.T.
PY - 2009/11/24
Y1 - 2009/11/24
N2 - Caenorhabditis elegans is a filter feeder: it draws bacteria suspended in liquid into its pharynx, traps the bacteria, and ejects the liquid. How pharyngeal pumping simultaneously transports and filters food particles has been poorly understood. Here, we use high-speed video microscopy to define the detailed workings of pharyngeal mechanics. The buccal cavity and metastomal flaps regulate the flow of dense bacterial suspensions and exclude excessively large particles from entering the pharynx. A complex sequence of contractions and relaxations transports food particles in two successive trap stages before passage into the terminal bulb and intestine. Filtering occurs at each trap as bacteria are concentrated in the central lumen while fluids are expelled radially through three apical channels. Experiments with microspheres show that the C. elegans pharynx, in combination with the buccal cavity, is tuned to specifically catch and transport particles of a size range corresponding to most soil bacteria.
AB - Caenorhabditis elegans is a filter feeder: it draws bacteria suspended in liquid into its pharynx, traps the bacteria, and ejects the liquid. How pharyngeal pumping simultaneously transports and filters food particles has been poorly understood. Here, we use high-speed video microscopy to define the detailed workings of pharyngeal mechanics. The buccal cavity and metastomal flaps regulate the flow of dense bacterial suspensions and exclude excessively large particles from entering the pharynx. A complex sequence of contractions and relaxations transports food particles in two successive trap stages before passage into the terminal bulb and intestine. Filtering occurs at each trap as bacteria are concentrated in the central lumen while fluids are expelled radially through three apical channels. Experiments with microspheres show that the C. elegans pharynx, in combination with the buccal cavity, is tuned to specifically catch and transport particles of a size range corresponding to most soil bacteria.
KW - Filter feeding
KW - Pharyngeal pumping
KW - Pharynx
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=73949156856&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1073/pnas.0904036106
DO - 10.1073/pnas.0904036106
M3 - Article
C2 - 19903886
AN - SCOPUS:73949156856
SN - 0027-8424
VL - 106
SP - 20093
EP - 20096
JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
IS - 47
ER -