Ethyl-Dimer-Galactopyranoside, a New Glycoside with Attractive Activity from Cultures of Caenorhabditis elegans on NGM

The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans is an important model for the study of social behaviors. Ethyl-dimer-galactopyranoside, a new glycoside isolated from the cultures of C. elegans on nematode growth medium (NGM), exhibited strong attractive activity toward C. elegans at different doses, reaching a chemotaxis index of 0.36 at 500 pg. Moreover, the results of transcriptome and chemotaxis assays suggest that ASE neurons are involved in the attractive effect of ethyl-dimer-galactopyranoside toward C. elegans. This study supplemented the understanding of the structure and biological function of modular glycosides of C. elegans. It is noteworthy that the chemotaxis index of 500 pg of ethyl-dimer-galactopyranoside toward Meloidogyne incognita was 0.19. It will also help us to further explore the complex multidirectional communication networks among different nematode species, which may aid the development of new treatment approaches for harmful parasitic nematodes in agriculture.