<i>Caenorhabditis elegans</i> AWC neuron-mediated chemosensation negatively modulates dormancy during <i>Salmonella fepB</i> mutant infection

Bacteria act as food signals for the <i>Caenorhabditis elegans</i>. Our work gives insight into how worms' olfactory neurons recognize pathogen <i>Salmonella</i> Typhimurium exposure and modulate behavioral plasticity, giving a better survival strategy against the pathogens. How specific chemosensory neurons in worms recognize the ∆<i>fepB</i> strain and undergo behavioral plasticity in response to infection. Furthermore, it highlights the strong connection between the chemosensory neurons of worms and the bacterial signals that regulate host physiology for survival when exposed to mutant strain infection, which might be under check in wild-type bacteria for their own benefit in an evolutionary adaptation. This mechanism might help the worm to select the pathogenic or non-pathogenic microbes as food and avoid infection-mediated lethality.