C. elegans dauer recovery microbe interactions

Dormant stages are commonly used for finding new habitats and they generally recover only after sensing external cues relevant to their abiotic and biotic needs. The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans has a dormant dauer stage that disperses between patches containing bacteria that vary in nutritional value and pathogenicity. These bacteria profoundly influence worm colonization success, so we might expect dauers to differentiate between them and alter their recovery accordingly. On the other hand, dauers cannot switch patches after colonization and so may opt for recovering no matter what. To test which strategy C. elegans uses, we exposed dauers to four bacterial species from their natural environment. We found that dauers recover in all conditions but increase recovery on certain bacteria depending on worm genotype, suggesting a combination of the two strategies. Additionally, the worm responses did not match the bacteria's objective quality, suggesting that their decision is based on other characteristics.