title: egl-4 acts through a transforming growth factor-beta/SMAD pathway in Caenorhabditis elegans to regulate multiple neuronal circuits in response to sensory cues.
abstract: Sensory cues regulate several aspects of behavior and development in Caenorhabditis elegans, including entry into and exit from an alternative developmental stage called the dauer larva. Three parallel pathways, including a TGF-beta-like pathway, regulate dauer formation. The mechanisms by which the activities of these pathways are regulated by sensory signals are largely unknown. The gene egl-4 was initially identified based on its egg-laying defects. We show here that egl-4 has many pleiotropies, including defects in chemosensory behavior, body size, synaptic transmission, and dauer formation. Our results are consistent with a role for egl-4 in relaying sensory cues to multiple behavioral and developmental circuits in C. elegans. By epistasis analysis, we also place egl-4 in the TGF-beta-like branch and show that a SMAD gene functions downstream of egl-4 in multiple egl-4-regulated pathways, including chemosensation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology and Volen Center for Complex Systems, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts 02454, USA.
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Daniels
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ailion
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sengupta
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology; D001824:Body Constitution / Q000235:genetics; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology*; D002628:Chemoreceptor Cells / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D017238:Genes, Helminth; D008959:Models, Neurological; D009154:Mutation; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology; D010058:Oviposition / Q000235:genetics; D010641:Phenotype; D012701:Serotonin / Q000502:physiology; D015398:Signal Transduction; D009435:Synaptic Transmission; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta; D012701:Serotonin