Abstract
Caenorhabditis elegans
is a free living soil nematode and thus in its natural habitat,
C. elegans
encounters many different species of soil bacteria. Although some soil bacteria may be excellent sources of nutrition for the worm, others may be pathogenic. Thus, we undertook a study to understand how
C. elegans
can identify their preferred food using a simple behavioral assay. We found that there are various species of soil bacteria that
C. elegans
prefers in comparison to the standard laboratory
E. coli
strain OP50. In particular, two bacterial strains,
Bacillus mycoides
and
Bacillus soli
, were preferred strains. Interestingly, the sole feeding of these bacteria to wild type animals results in extended lifespan through the activation of the autophagic process. Further studies will be required to understand the precise mechanism controlling the behavior of identification and selection of food in
C. elegans
.