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Functional asymmetry in Caenorhabditis elegans taste neurons and its computational role in chemotaxis

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  • Hiroshi Suzuki

    (University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, USA
    Present addresses: Center for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3H2, Canada (H.S.); MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge CB2 0QH, UK (W.R.S.).)

  • Tod R. Thiele

    (Institute of Neuroscience, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon 97403, USA)

  • Serge Faumont

    (Institute of Neuroscience, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon 97403, USA)

  • Marina Ezcurra

    (MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology)

  • Shawn R. Lockery

    (Institute of Neuroscience, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon 97403, USA)

  • William R. Schafer

    (University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, USA
    MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology
    Present addresses: Center for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3H2, Canada (H.S.); MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge CB2 0QH, UK (W.R.S.).)

Abstract

Nematode behaviour: Heading for the salt The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans uses two anatomically similar sensory neurons in its head to taste salt, and moves towards higher salt concentrations. Suzuki et al. show that the neuron on the left fires when salt concentration increases, whereas the one on the right responds to a decrease in concentration. So activity in the left sensory neuron stimulates the animal to crawl ahead, while activity of the right-hand cell induces turning. The circuitry and genes involved are reminiscent of retinal organization and the computational aspects of bacterial chemotaxis.

Suggested Citation

  • Hiroshi Suzuki & Tod R. Thiele & Serge Faumont & Marina Ezcurra & Shawn R. Lockery & William R. Schafer, 2008. "Functional asymmetry in Caenorhabditis elegans taste neurons and its computational role in chemotaxis," Nature, Nature, vol. 454(7200), pages 114-117, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:454:y:2008:i:7200:d:10.1038_nature06927
    DOI: 10.1038/nature06927
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    Cited by:

    1. Javier J How & Saket Navlakha & Sreekanth H Chalasani, 2021. "Neural network features distinguish chemosensory stimuli in Caenorhabditis elegans," PLOS Computational Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 17(11), pages 1-38, November.
    2. Zhongyu Chen & Yuguo Yu & Xiangyang Xue, 2023. "A Connectome-Based Digital Twin Caenorhabditis elegans Capable of Intelligent Sensorimotor Behavior," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-23, May.
    3. Tobias Clark & Vera Hapiak & Mitchell Oakes & Holly Mills & Richard Komuniecki, 2018. "Monoamines differentially modulate neuropeptide release from distinct sites within a single neuron pair," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(5), pages 1-22, May.

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