| Title: | A hub-and-spoke circuit drives pheromone attraction and social behaviour in C. elegans |
| Author(s): | Macosko EZ; Pokala N; Feinberg EH; Chalasani SH; Butcher RA; Clardy J; Bargmann CI; |
| Address: | "Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Laboratory of Neural Circuits and Behavior, The Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, New York, New York 10065, USA" |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1476-4687 (Electronic) 0028-0836 (Print) 0028-0836 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "Innate social behaviours emerge from neuronal circuits that interpret sensory information on the basis of an individual's own genotype, sex and experience. The regulated aggregation behaviour of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, a simple animal with only 302 neurons, is an attractive system to analyse these circuits. Wild social strains of C. elegans aggregate in the presence of specific sensory cues, but solitary strains do not. Here we identify the RMG inter/motor neuron as the hub of a regulated circuit that controls aggregation and related behaviours. RMG is the central site of action of the neuropeptide receptor gene npr-1, which distinguishes solitary strains (high npr-1 activity) from wild social strains (low npr-1 activity); high RMG activity is essential for all aspects of social behaviour. Anatomical gap junctions connect RMG to several classes of sensory neurons known to promote aggregation, and to ASK sensory neurons, which are implicated in male attraction to hermaphrodite pheromones. We find that ASK neurons respond directly to pheromones, and that high RMG activity enhances ASK responses in social strains, causing hermaphrodite attraction to pheromones at concentrations that repel solitary hermaphrodites. The coordination of social behaviours by RMG suggests an anatomical hub-and-spoke model for sensory integration in aggregation, and points to functions for related circuit motifs in the C. elegans wiring diagram" |
| Keywords: | "Animals Caenorhabditis elegans/cytology/drug effects/*physiology Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins/genetics/metabolism Disorders of Sex Development Feeding Behavior/drug effects/physiology Male Models, Neurological Mutation Neural Pathways/drug effects/*phy;" |
| Notes: | "MedlineMacosko, Evan Z Pokala, Navin Feinberg, Evan H Chalasani, Sreekanth H Butcher, Rebecca A Clardy, Jon Bargmann, Cornelia I eng T32 GM007739-30/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ GM077943/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ R01 CA024487-30/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ R01 CA024487/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ T32 GM007739/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ CA24487/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ HHMI/Howard Hughes Medical Institute/ GM07739/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ F32 GM077943/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ F32 GM077943-03/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't England 2009/04/08 Nature. 2009 Apr 30; 458(7242):1171-5. doi: 10.1038/nature07886. Epub 2009 Apr 6" |
