Exposing neurons of hermaphroditic C. elegans to high levels of either the Huntington’s disease–causing protein Q40 or the ligand Wnt triggers a stress pathway, the mitochondrial unfolded protein response (UPRmt), in many of their cells, including their oocytes. The UPRmt involves elevated copy numbers of the organelle’s genome and an accumulation of unfolded proteins (1). When researchers bred these animals with wild-type males that had not been stressed (2), they found that about 30 percent of the offspring continued to carry a “memory” of that stress, as evidenced by the UPRmt in their tissues (3). This transgenerational inheritance, the researchers found, was mediated by Wnt. Hermaphroditic offspring with the strongest stress responses were allowed to self-fertilize until up to 90 percent of offspring showed the UPRmt inherited from the experience of their ancestors—a “memory” passed down for as many as 50 generations (4). Worms with this stress-primed phenotype had increased ...
Infographic: How C. elegans Transmit Stress Signals to Offspring
Neurons stressed with chemicals produce Wnt, which in turn triggers changes in the germline.
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Amanda first began dabbling in scicom as a master’s student studying marine science at Moss Landing Marine Labs, where she edited the student blog and interned at a local NPR station. She enjoyed that process of demystifying science so much that after receiving her degree in 2019, she went straight into a second master’s program in science communication at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Formerly an intern at The Scientist, Amanda joined the team as a staff reporter and editor in 2021 and oversaw the publication’s internship program, assigned and edited the Foundations, Scientist to Watch, and Short Lit columns, and contributed original reporting across the publication. Amanda’s stories often focus on issues of equity and representation in academia, and she brings this same commitment to DEI to the Science Writers Association of the Rocky Mountains and to the board of the National Association of Science Writers, which she has served on since 2022. She is currently based in the outdoor playground that is Moab, Utah. Read more of her work at www.amandaheidt.com.
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