Piwi/PRG-1 Argonaute and TGF-β Mediate Transgenerational Learned Pathogenic Avoidance

The ability to inherit learned information from parents could be evolutionarily beneficial, enabling progeny to better survive dangerous conditions. We discovered that, after C. elegans have learned to avoid the pathogenic bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA14), they pass this learned behavior on to their progeny, through either the male or female germline, persisting through the fourth generation. Expression of the TGF-β ligand DAF-7 in the ASI...