A mutation in the AMPA-type glutamate receptor, glr-1, blocks olfactory associative and nonassociative learning in Caenorhabditis elegans.
The alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole propionate (AMPA)-type ionotropic glutamate receptor mediates fast excitatory neurotransmission in the vertebrate brain and is important for synaptic plasticity and the initial induction of long-term potentiation (LTP). This study found that the putative Caenorhabditis elegans AMPA receptor gene, glr-1, plays a significant role in experience-dependent behavior in C. elegans. glr-1 mutants are deficient in an olfactory associative learning task, in which diacetyl (DA) is paired with acetic acid solution. glr-1 mutant nematodes are also impaired in nonassociative learning (habituation) with the same DA stimulus. The C. elegans learning mutants, lrn-1 and lrn-2, are impaired in chemosensory associative learning yet have no deficits in habituation. The results suggest that although associative and nonassociative learning can be genetically dissociated (lrn-1 and lrn-2), they also share some common molecular processes, including glr-1-mediated neurotransmission.
Morrison
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GE
Neurobiology Research Group, Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
van der Kooy
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D000818:Animals; D001245:Association Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000235:genetics*; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D002628:Chemoreceptor Cells / Q000502:physiology; D003214:Conditioning, Classical / Q000502:physiology; D017774:Long-Term Potentiation / Q000235:genetics; D009154:Mutation / Q000235:genetics*; D018091:Receptors, AMPA / Q000235:genetics*; D017470:Receptors, Glutamate / Q000235:genetics*; D012903:Smell / Q000235:genetics*
D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D018091:Receptors, AMPA; D017470:Receptors, Glutamate; C096470:glr-1 protein, C elegans