EPISODE 37: Octopus "Ouch" Genes - Teaching Worms to Feel Pain!

How do you hunt for pain-sensing genes in an octopus — and then test what they do in a nematode? In this episode, we explore a cross-species strategy that mines the Octopus vulgaris transcriptome for candidate nociceptors, then functionally probes a subset using Caenorhabditis elegans behaviour.

Using conserved nociception pathways as a guide, the authors identify candidate genes with C. elegans orthologues and show that a subset can alter aversive responses in the worm. The work highlights conserved molecular themes — including TRP channels and neuropeptide signalling — and shows how C. elegans can be used as a fast, tractable platform to characterise candidate sensory genes from more complex invertebrates.

🔍 Key topics covered

• Why cephalopod nociception matters (including welfare context)

• A bioinformatic “orthologue-first” pipeline to shortlist candidate nociceptors

• Functional testing in C. elegans using aversive/avoidance behaviour

• What the results suggest about conserved roles for TRP channels and neuropeptides

📖 Based on the research article:

“Identification of molecular nociceptors in Octopus vulgaris through functional characterisation in Caenorhabditis elegans”

Eleonora Maria Pieroni, Vincent O’Connor, Lindy Holden-Dye, Pamela Imperadore, Graziano Fiorito & James Dillon.

Biology Open (2025)

🔗 https://doi.org/10.1242/bio.062268

UK C. elegans Meeting 2026 (Southampton) — registration + abstracts

• Registration open (deadline 10 March 2026)

• Register via the University of Southampton Online Store (search for “UK C elegans 2026”).

• Abstract submission form: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/BURNmxu76i

• Important: you must be registered for your abstract to be accepted; talk selections are made after registration closes.

• Meeting info page:

This podcast is generated with artificial intelligence and curated by Veeren. If you’d like your publication featured on the show, please get in touch.

📩 More info:

🔗 www.veerenchauhan.com

📧 veeren.chauhan@nottingham.ac.uk