Carbon dioxide shapes parasite-host interactions in a human-infective nematode.

Skin-penetrating nematodes infect nearly one billion people worldwide. The developmentally arrested infective larvae (iL3s) seek out hosts, invade hosts via skin penetration, and resume development inside the host in a process called activation. Activated infective larvae (iL3as) traverse the host body, ending up as parasitic adults in the small intestine. Skin-penetrating nematodes respond to many chemosensory cues, but how chemosensation contributes to host seeking, intra-host development, and intra-host navigation - three crucial steps of the parasite-host interaction - remains poorly understood. Here, we investigate the role of carbon dioxide (CO) in promoting parasite-host interactions in the human-infective threadworm . We show that exhibits life-stage-specific preferences for CO: iL3s are repelled, non-infective larvae and adults are neutral, and iL3as are attracted. CO repulsion in iL3s may prime them for host seeking by stimulating dispersal from host feces, while CO attraction in iL3as may direct worms toward high-CO areas of the body such as the lungs and intestine. We also identify sensory neurons that detect CO; these neurons are depolarized by CO in iL3s and iL3as. In addition, we demonstrate that the receptor guanylate cyclase -GCY-9 is expressed specifically in CO-sensing neurons and is required for CO-evoked behavior-GCY-9 also promotes activation, indicating that a single receptor can mediate both behavioral and physiological responses to CO. Our results illuminate chemosensory mechanisms that shape the interaction between parasitic nematodes and their human hosts and may aid in the design of novel anthelmintics that target the CO-sensing pathway.