{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,1]],"date-time":"2026-09-01T01:15:47Z","timestamp":1788225347374,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":23,"publisher":"American Society for Microbiology","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,7]],"date-time":"2026-07-07T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1783382400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,7]],"date-time":"2026-07-07T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1783382400000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/journals.asm.org\/non-commercial-tdm-license"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000057","name":"National Institute of General Medical Sciences","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["1R35GM160529"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["1R35GM160529"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000057","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100006952","name":"Louisiana Board of Regents","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["LEQSF(2024-27)-RD-A-19"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["LEQSF(2024-27)-RD-A-19"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100006952","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["journals.asm.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Microbiol Spectr"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,7]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>ABSTRACT<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title\/>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      The microbiome is increasingly recognized as a key factor of the plasticity of host life-history traits. Using the\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">Caenorhabditis elegans<\/jats:italic>\n                      model system, we examined how naturally associated bacterial strains affect internal egg hatching, a stress-adaptive reproductive strategy in this species. Among the bacterial strains tested, four strains (\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">Ochrobactrum<\/jats:italic>\n                      BH3,\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">Lelliottia<\/jats:italic>\n                      JUb66,\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">Pantoea<\/jats:italic>\n                      BIGb0393, and\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">Enterobacter<\/jats:italic>\n                      CEent1) induced high levels of internal hatching (28\u201357%) in\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">C. elegans<\/jats:italic>\n                      during late adulthood, compared to &lt;5% in animals grown on\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">E. coli<\/jats:italic>\n                      OP50. These effects were accompanied by extending the reproductive window while showing a trend toward reduced total progeny and lifespan. Genetic analyses revealed that these effects are mediated through various components of the insulin signaling pathway: the\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">\u03b1-proteobacterial<\/jats:italic>\n                      strain BH3 acts via DAF-16\/FOXO, whereas the three \u03b3\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">-proteobacterial<\/jats:italic>\n                      strains act independently of DAF-16, suggesting differences in pathway dependence. Our findings demonstrate that naturally associated microbiome members can differentially interact with host endocrine signaling to shape reproductive outcomes. These results underscore the role of microbial cues in shaping life-history plasticity in animals.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                    <jats:sec>\n                      <jats:title>IMPORTANCE<\/jats:title>\n                      <jats:p>\n                        Microbiome members profoundly influence host physiology, including reproductive strategies. Using the\n                        <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">Caenorhabditis elegans<\/jats:italic>\n                        natural microbiome model, we show that commensal bacteria can induce internal egg hatching, a facultative vivipary phenotype previously linked primarily to early-life starvation or pathogen exposure that severely reduces reproductive output. In contrast, commensal strains trigger this shift mainly in late adulthood, extending the reproductive window with minimal impact on overall fecundity. We further demonstrate that bacterial strains act through distinct components of the host insulin signaling pathway. More broadly, these findings highlight diverse avenues within conserved endocrine networks that are susceptible to microbial modulation and underscore the potential to leverage microbiomes to influence host life-history traits.\n                      <\/jats:p>\n                    <\/jats:sec>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1128\/spectrum.04034-25","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,11]],"date-time":"2026-06-11T13:01:28Z","timestamp":1781182888000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1128\/asmj-crossmark-policy-page","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Natural commensal microbes induce internal hatching in\n                    <i>C. elegans<\/i>"],"prefix":"10.1128","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Nora M.","family":"Villafuerte","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/05dte6685","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"Department of Biological Sciences, Louisiana State University","place":["Baton Rouge, USA"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Emma N.","family":"Stevens","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/05dte6685","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"Department of Biological Sciences, Louisiana State University","place":["Baton Rouge, USA"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mina A.","family":"Sheikh","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/05dte6685","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"Department of Biological Sciences, Louisiana State University","place":["Baton Rouge, USA"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Victoria H.","family":"Rodriguez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/05dte6685","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"Department of Biological Sciences, Louisiana State University","place":["Baton Rouge, USA"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jennifer","family":"Lin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/008zs3103","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"Department of Statistics, Rice University","place":["Houston, USA"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2849-1713","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Fan","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/05dte6685","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"Department of Biological Sciences, Louisiana State University","place":["Baton Rouge, USA"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"235","reference":[{"key":"e_1_3_4_2_2","first-page":"337","volume-title":"The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans","author":"Chalife M","year":"1980","unstructured":"Chalife M, White J. 1980. The nervous system, p 337\u2013391. In The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press."},{"key":"e_1_3_4_3_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1163\/156854103322683355"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_4_2","first-page":"107","article-title":"Facultative vivipary is a life-history trait in Caenorhabditis elegans","volume":"36","author":"Chen J","year":"2004","unstructured":"Chen J, Caswell-Chen EP. 2004. Facultative vivipary is a life-history trait in Caenorhabditis elegans. 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