A diacetyl-induced quiescence in young Caenorhabditis elegans.

Many organisms enter quiescence in response to adverse environmental factors. Here, we show that L1 stage C. elegans entered a quiescent state after 3hours exposure to diacetyl in which movement and growth stopped for hours to days after odorant removal. Entry into quiescence was dependent on neurons affected by the osm-3 mutation, and by AWA neurons. Conversely, AWB/AWC neurons, the guanylyl cyclase ODR-1, and the TRPV-channel subunit OCR-2 inhibited entry into L1 arrest. This quiescent behavior represents an alternative use of olfactory signaling pathways besides approach or avoidance, and is a novel model in which to characterize genes implicated in quiescence.