A putative cyclic nucleotide-gated channel is required for sensory development and function in C. elegans.
In vertebrate visual and olfactory systems, a cyclic nucleotide-gated channel couples receptor activation to electrical activity of the sensory neurons. The Caenorhabditis elegans tax-2 gene is required for some forms of olfaction, for chemosensation of salts, and for thermosensation. We show here that tax-2 encodes a predicted subunit of a cyclic nucleotide-gated channel that is expressed in olfactory, gustatory, and thermosensory neurons, implicating this channel in multiple sensory modalities. Some sensory neurons display axon outgrowth defects in tax-2 mutants. Thus, the channel has an unexpected role in sensory neuron development in addition to its role in sensation. Consistent with this proposed dual function, a Tax-2::GFP fusion protein is present both in sensory cilia and in sensory axons.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Anatomy, The University of California, San Francisco 94143-0452, USA.
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Coburn
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Bargmann
D000483:Alleles; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001369:Axons / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D017238:Genes, Helminth; D007473:Ion Channels / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016296:Mutagenesis; D009475:Neurons, Afferent / Q000502:physiology*; D010802:Phylogeny; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis; D012492:Salts; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D013696:Temperature
D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D007473:Ion Channels; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D012492:Salts; C102183:tax-2 protein, C elegans