Welcome to the next episode of the WOrM Podcast 🪱Today we’re looking at something surprisingly familiar in worm biology: alcohol.But not just exposure — we’re talking about behaviour, tolerance, withdrawal, and how core neurotransmitter systems shape all of it.⸻🧬 The central questionWhat actually happens when a worm is exposed to ethanol?Not just in terms of movement — but across:• behaviour• lifespan• neuronal signalling• and gene expressionThis study takes a multi-layered approach to understand how alcohol reshapes the worm.⸻🔬 What they didWorms were exposed to ethanol for 24 hours, followed by a withdrawal phase, and then tested in a behavioural assay — the classic diacetyl race.This creates a simple but powerful 3-step model:exposurewithdrawalre-exposureA framework that starts to look a lot like tolerance biology.⸻🧠 What they foundThe response to ethanol isn’t uniform — it depends on the nervous system.• Wild-type worms show reduced lifespan at higher ethanol doses• Dopamine (dop-3) and serotonin (tph-1) mutants respond differently• Behaviour during chemotaxis is altered — not just slower, but less coordinated• Re-exposure can rescue or worsen behaviour, depending on genotypeThis is not just toxicity.It’s state-dependent behaviour.⸻⚡ Neurons are doing the workAt the cellular level, ethanol increases vesicle exocytosis in both dopaminergic and serotonergic neurons.So the system is not shutting down — it’s being actively rewired.And importantly, intact dopamine and serotonin signalling are required for normal responses to ethanol.⸻🧪 The molecular layerEthanol exposure also shifts gene expression:• Stress response genes like gst-4 and sod-3 are altered• Metabolic genes like adh-1 are downregulated• The response differs depending on dopamine and serotonin functionSo behaviour, neurons, and metabolism are all coupled.⸻🧠 The take-home messageEthanol in C. elegans is not just a stressor.It’s a probe.A way to reveal how:• neurotransmitters• behaviour• and metabolisminteract at the whole-organism level.And the key point?You don’t get the phenotype without the network.⸻📄 Paper discussedRubio-Tomás, T.; Hunn, C. A.; Hajdú, G.; Sőti, C.; Tavernarakis, N.; Barta, C. (2026)Specific genes of the dopaminergic (dop-3) and serotonergic (tph-1) pathways contribute to the effects of ethanol consumption in Caenorhabditis elegansPLOS One, 21(3): e0344966DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0344966 If you enjoyed this episode, please like, follow, and subscribe wherever you listen to the WOrM Podcast ⭐🎧 It really helps others in the community find the show.This podcast is generated with artificial intelligence and curated by Veeren. If you’d like your publication featured on the show, please get in touch.📩 More info:🔗 www.veerenchauhan.com📧 [email protected]

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

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