The cyclic GMP-dependent protein kinase EGL-4 regulates olfactory adaptation in C. elegans.
Prolonged odor exposure causes a specific, reversible adaptation of olfactory responses. A genetic screen for negative regulators of olfaction uncovered mutations in the cGMP-dependent protein kinase EGL-4 that disrupt olfactory adaptation in C. elegans. G protein-coupled olfactory receptors within the AWC olfactory neuron signal through cGMP and a cGMP-gated channel. The cGMP-dependent kinase functions in AWC neurons during odor exposure to direct adaptation to AWC-sensed odors, suggesting that adaptation is a cell intrinsic process initiated by cGMP. A predicted phosphorylation site on the beta subunit of the cGMP-gated channel is required for adaptation after short odor exposure, suggesting that phosphorylation of signaling molecules generates adaptation at early time points. A predicted nuclear localization signal within EGL-4 is required for adaptation after longer odor exposure, suggesting that nuclear translocation of EGL-4 triggers late forms of adaptation.
L'Etoile
Noelle D
ND
Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Programs in Developmental Biology, Neuroscience, and Genetics, Department of Anatomy, The University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA.
Coburn
Cara M
CM
Eastham
Jeffery
J
Kistler
Amy
A
Gallegos
Gloriana
G
Bargmann
Cornelia I
CI
D000222:Adaptation, Physiological / Q000235:genetics*; D000818:Animals; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000166:cytology / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D002628:Chemoreceptor Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D003360:Cosmids / Q000235:genetics; D006152:Cyclic GMP / Q000378:metabolism; D017869:Cyclic GMP-Dependent Protein Kinases / Q000172:deficiency* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D005820:Genetic Testing; D007473:Ion Channels / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation / Q000235:genetics; D009420:Nervous System / Q000166:cytology / Q000201:enzymology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000235:genetics; D012903:Smell / Q000235:genetics*
D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D007473:Ion Channels; C102183:tax-2 protein, C elegans; D017869:Cyclic GMP-Dependent Protein Kinases; C470349:EGL-4 protein, C elegans; D006152:Cyclic GMP