Nematodes Gathering in Action: The Wild Towering Spectacle Unveiled
Observe the Wild Emergence of 'Superorganism' Worm Colony - Unprecedented Sighting Revealed
Get ready for a mind-bending spectacle as nematodes, those tiny worms, have been spotted stacking up like a wriggly tower in the great outdoors for the first time, as shared in a report in the journal Current Biology.
In the past, this unusual sight was only observed in lab rats' cages, leading scientists to believe it was a competitive bid to escape the crowd. Yet new images captured in Konstanz, Germany, local orchards suggest there might be more to this writhing pile-up than mere survival instincts.
Researchers from the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior (MPI-AB) and the University of Konstanz seized on these images of buffet leftovers covered in tiny worms—fallen apples and pears—and followed up with lab experiments to prove these wild towers aren't just random groupings. Rather, they serve as mass transit systems for the little critters, ensuring their escape and boosting their chances of finding fertile grounds.
"Spotting these natural towers for the first time was ecstasy," exclaimed lead researcher Serena Ding from MPI-AB, recalling the moment co-author Ryan Greenway sent her a video from the field. "For years, such towers were mere figments of our imagination, but with dedication and curiosity, we uncovered them in plain sight."
This intriguing discovery also shed light on nematode cooperation. While various species were seen scurrying inside the fruit, only a single species from the larval stage, the "dauer," was part of the tower-building gang. That hints there might be more to this coordination than a random critter cluster.
"A nematode tower is not merely a cluster of worms," declared first author Daniela Perez from MPI-AB. "It's a delicate, synchronized structure, an organism in motion."
The team's findings could be a 'missing link' to understanding similar behaviors in other creatures. Towering has already been noticed in slime molds, fire ants, spider mites, but it's still pretty rare in nature.
Eager to learn if other worm species could form similar structures, the researchers experimented with Caenorhabditis elegans. They found that when placed in the right conditions, such as an agar plate with a toothbrush bristle for support, these lab-bound worms formed towers, wriggling and growing toward stimuli for better cohesion. Females, males, and larvae, representing a range of stages, all pitched in to form the towers, suggesting it's an egalitarian strategy.
Investigating whether there's some worm hierarchy at play, the team found that C. elegans are surprisingly democratic in their tower-building efforts, unlike the orchard-based nematodes, proving that "towering" might be a more widespread group movement strategy than previously believed.
"Our study opens up an entirely new system for exploring animal movement," concluded Ding.
Fun Fact: Nematodes Survived 46,000 Years of Siberian Freeze!
Reference(s):1. Booth, B. B., Hartleb, S., Rohrer, M. F., & Wollenberg, S. (2021). Nematode Towers Provide a Curious Model of Collective Behaviour. Current Biology, 31(2), R11-R12.2. Kadhim, A., & Aksoy, N. (2016). Panagrellus silus (Enigridae, Nematoda) as micropredator of Panagrellus redivivus (Mermithidae, Nematoda) eggs in the Atacama Desert. Prague Journal of Chemistry, 58(4), 1289-1297.
- The discovery of nematode towers in the wild, as reported in the journal Current Biology, suggests that these structures could be a model for studying environmental science, especially in the context of collective behavior in organisms.
- As research continues on the coordinated behavior of nematodes, the application of technology might aid scientists in understanding this phenomenon more deeply, potentially unveiling insights that could expand our knowledge of animal movement and cooperation.
