scholarly journals Changes in postural syntax characterize sensory modulation and natural variation of C. elegans locomotion

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roland F. Schwarz ◽  
Robyn Branicky ◽  
Laura J. Grundy ◽  
William R. Schafer ◽  
André E.X. Brown
Keyword(s):  
Nervous System ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Natural Variation ◽  
Sensory Modulation ◽  
Comprehensive Understanding ◽  
C Elegans ◽  
Locomotor Behaviour ◽  
Discrete Representation ◽  
Heavy Tailed ◽  
Shape Changes

Locomotion is driven by shape changes coordinated by the nervous system through time; thus, enumerating an animal's complete repertoire of shape transitions would provide a basis for a comprehensive understanding of locomotor behaviour. Here we introduce a discrete representation of behaviour in the nematode C. elegans. At each point in time, the worm's posture is approximated by its closest matching template from a set of 90 postures and locomotion is represented as sequences of postures. The frequency distribution of postural sequences is heavy-tailed with a core of frequent behaviours and a much larger set of rarely used behaviours. Responses to optogenetic and environmental stimuli can be quantified as changes in postural syntax: worms show different preferences for different sequences of postures drawn from the same set of templates. A discrete representation of behaviour will enable the use of methods developed for other kinds of discrete data in bioinformatics and language processing to be harnessed for the study of behaviour.

scholarly journals Changes in Postural Syntax Characterize Sensory Modulation and Natural Variation of C. elegans Locomotion

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. e1004322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roland F. Schwarz ◽  
Robyn Branicky ◽  
Laura J. Grundy ◽  
William R. Schafer ◽  
André E. X. Brown
Keyword(s):  
Natural Variation ◽  
Sensory Modulation ◽  
C Elegans

scholarly journals C. elegans REMO-1, a glial GPCR, regulates stress-induced nervous system remodeling and behavior

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
In Hae Lee ◽  
Carl Procko ◽  
Yun Lu ◽  
Shai Shaham
Keyword(s):  
Nervous System ◽  
Animal Behavior ◽  
Single Neuron ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
C Elegans ◽  
Stress Dependent ◽  
Favorable Conditions ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
G Protein Coupled ◽  
Shape Changes

Animal nervous systems remodel following stress. Although global stress-dependent changes are well documented, contributions of individual neuron remodeling events to animal behavior modification are challenging to study. In response to environmental insults, C. elegans become stress-resistant dauers. Dauer entry induces amphid sensory-organ remodeling, in which bilateral AMsh glial cells expand and fuse, allowing embedded AWC chemosensory neurons to extend sensory receptive endings. We show that amphid remodeling accelerates dauer exit upon exposure to favorable conditions, and identify a G protein-coupled receptor, REMO-1, driving AMsh glia fusion, AWC neuron remodeling, and dauer exit. REMO-1 is expressed in and localizes to AMsh glia tips, is dispensable for other remodeling events, and promotes stress-induced expression of the remodeling receptor tyrosine kinase VER-1. Our results demonstrate how single-neuron structural changes affect animal behavior, identify key glial roles in stress-induced nervous system shape changes, and demonstrate that remodeling primes animals to respond to favorable conditions.

scholarly journals Natural variation in the irld gene family affects insulin/IGF signaling and starvation resistance

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy K Webster ◽  
Rojin Chitrakar ◽  
Maya Powell ◽  
Jingxian Chen ◽  
Kinsey Fisher ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Nervous System ◽  
Gene Family ◽  
Natural Variation ◽  
Genetic Basis ◽  
Egf Receptor ◽  
Complex Trait ◽  
Starvation Resistance ◽  
C Elegans ◽  
Sensory Nervous System ◽  
Igf Signaling

Starvation resistance is a fundamental, disease-relevant trait, but the genetic basis of its natural variation is unknown. We developed a synthetic population-sequencing approach to measure starvation resistance for many wild C. elegans strains simultaneously. We identified three quantitative trait loci with variants in 16 insulin/EGF receptor-like domain (irld) family members. We show that four irld genes affect starvation resistance by regulating insulin/IGF signaling. We propose that IRLD proteins bind insulin-like peptides to modify signaling in the sensory nervous system thereby affecting organismal physiology. This work demonstrates efficacy of using population sequencing to dissect a complex trait, identifies irld genes that regulate insulin/IGF signaling, and shows that an expanded gene family modifies a deeply conserved signaling pathway to affect a fitness-proximal trait.

scholarly journals Neurons interact with the microbiome: an evolutionary-informed perspective

Neuroforum ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoph Giez ◽  
Alexander Klimovich ◽  
Thomas C. G. Bosch
Keyword(s):  
Nervous System ◽  
Neural Circuits ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
System Development ◽  
Nervous System Development ◽  
Comprehensive Understanding ◽  
Strategic Model ◽  
Microbe Interactions ◽  
Host Microbe Interactions ◽  
And Function

Abstract Animals have evolved within the framework of microbes and are constantly exposed to diverse microbiota. Microbes colonize most, if not all, animal epithelia and influence the activity of many organs, including the nervous system. Therefore, any consideration on nervous system development and function in the absence of the recognition of microbes will be incomplete. Here, we review the current knowledge on the nervous systems of Hydra and its role in the host–microbiome communication. We show that recent advances in molecular and imaging methods are allowing a comprehensive understanding of the capacity of such a seemingly simple nervous system in the context of the metaorganism. We propose that the development, function and evolution of neural circuits must be considered in the context of host–microbe interactions and present Hydra as a strategic model system with great basic and translational relevance for neuroscience.

Behavioral Effects of Volatile Anesthetics in Caenorhabditis elegans

1996 ◽  
Vol 85 (4) ◽  
pp. 901-912 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael C. Crowder ◽  
Laynie D. Shebester ◽  
Tim Schedl
Keyword(s):  
Nervous System ◽  
Caenorhabditis Elegans ◽  
Time Course ◽  
Model Organism ◽  
Volatile Anesthetic ◽  
Volatile Anesthetics ◽  
Effective Concentration ◽  
Forward Genetics ◽  
C Elegans ◽  
Median Effective Concentration

Background The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans offers many advantages as a model organism for studying volatile anesthetic actions. It has a simple, well-understood nervous system; it allows the researcher to do forward genetics; and its genome will soon be completely sequenced. C. elegans is immobilized by volatile anesthetics only at high concentrations and with an unusually slow time course. Here other behavioral dysfunctions are considered as anesthetic endpoints in C. elegans. Methods The potency of halothane for disrupting eight different behaviors was determined by logistic regression of concentration and response data. Other volatile anesthetics were also tested for some behaviors. Established protocols were used for behavioral endpoints that, except for pharyngeal pumping, were set as complete disruption of the behavior. Time courses were measured for rapid behaviors. Recovery from exposure to 1 or 4 vol% halothane was determined for mating, chemotaxis, and gross movement. All experiments were performed at 20 to 22 degrees C. Results The median effective concentration values for halothane inhibition of mating (0.30 vol%-0.21 mM), chemotaxis (0.34 vol%-0.24 mM), and coordinated movement (0.32 vol% - 0.23 mM) were similar to the human minimum alveolar concentration (MAC; 0.21 mM). In contrast, halothane produced immobility with a median effective concentration of 3.65 vol% (2.6 mM). Other behaviors had intermediate sensitivities. Halothane's effects reached steady-state in 10 min for all behaviors tested except immobility, which required 2 h. Recovery was complete after exposure to 1 vol% halothane but was significantly reduced after exposure to immobilizing concentrations. Conclusions Volatile anesthetics selectively disrupt C. elegans behavior. The potency, time course, and recovery characteristics of halothane's effects on three behaviors are similar to its anesthetic properties in vertebrates. The affected nervous system molecules may express structural motifs similar to those on vertebrate anesthetic targets.

scholarly journals Complementary RNA amplification methods enhance microarray identification of transcripts expressed in the C. elegans nervous system

BMC Genomics ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph D Watson ◽  
Shenglong Wang ◽  
Stephen E Von Stetina ◽  
W Clay Spencer ◽  
Shawn Levy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Nervous System ◽  
Rna Amplification ◽  
C Elegans

scholarly journals Natural variation in Caenorhabditis elegans responses to the anthelmintic emodepside

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janneke Wit ◽  
Steffen R. Hahnel ◽  
Briana C. Rodriguez ◽  
Erik Andersen
Keyword(s):  
Caenorhabditis Elegans ◽  
Mode Of Action ◽  
Natural Variation ◽  
Treatment Strategies ◽  
Parasitic Nematodes ◽  
Anthelmintic Drug ◽  
C Elegans ◽  
Hormetic Effect ◽  
Filarial Nematodes

Treatment of parasitic nematode infections depends primarily on the use of anthelmintics. However, this drug arsenal is limited, and resistance against most anthelmintics is widespread. Emodepside is a new anthelmintic drug effective against gastrointestinal and filarial nematodes. Nematodes that are resistant to other anthelmintic drug classes are susceptible to emodepside, indicating that the emodepside mode of action is distinct from previous anthelmintics. The laboratory-adapted Caenorhabditis elegans strain N2 is sensitive to emodepside, and genetic selection and in vitro experiments implicated slo-1, a BK potassium channel gene, in emodepside mode of action. In an effort to understand how natural populations will respond to emodepside, we measured brood sizes and developmental rates of wild C. elegans strains after exposure to the drug and found natural variation across the species. Some variation in emodepside responses can be explained by natural differences in slo-1. This result suggests that other genes in addition to slo-1 underlie emodepside resistance in wild C. elegans strains. Additionally, all assayed strains have higher offspring production in low concentrations of emodepside (a hormetic effect), which could impact treatment strategies. We find that natural variation affects emodepside sensitivity, supporting the suitability of C. elegans as a model system to study emodepside responses across parasitic nematodes.

scholarly journals Coordinated morphogenesis through tension-induced planar polarity

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ghislain Gillard ◽  
Ophélie Nicolle ◽  
Thibault Brugières ◽  
Sylvain Prigent ◽  
Mathieu Pinot ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cell Shape ◽  
Muscle Contractions ◽  
Developmental Origins ◽  
Planar Polarity ◽  
C Elegans ◽  
Embryonic Tissues ◽  
Cell Shape Changes ◽  
Shape Changes

AbstractTissues from different developmental origins must interact to achieve coordinated morphogenesis at the level of a whole organism. C. elegans embryonic elongation is controlled by actomyosin dynamics which trigger cell shape changes in the epidermis and by muscle contractions, but how the two processes are coordinated is not known. We found that a tissue-wide tension generated by muscle contractions and relayed by tendon-like hemidesmosomes in the dorso-ventral epidermis is required to establish a planar polarity of the apical PAR module in the lateral epidermis. This planar polarized PAR module then controls actin planar organization, thus determining the orientation of cell shape changes and the elongation axis of the whole embryo. This trans-tissular mechanotransduction pathway thus contributes to coordinate the morphogenesis of three embryonic tissues.

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