title: Behavioral plasticity in C. elegans: paradigms, circuits, genes.
abstract: Life in the soil is an intellectual and practical challenge that the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans masters by utilizing 302 neurons. The nervous system assembled by these 302 neurons is capable of executing a variety of behaviors, some of respectable complexity. The simplicity of the nervous system, its thoroughly characterized structure, several sets of well-defined behaviors, and its genetic amenability combined with its isogenic background make C. elegans an attractive model organism to study the genetics of behavior. This review describes several behavioral plasticity paradigms in C. elegans and their underlying neuronal circuits and then goes on to review the forward genetic analysis that has been undertaken to identify genes involved in the execution of these behaviors. Lastly, the review outlines how reverse genetics and genomic approaches can guide the analysis of the role of genes in behavior and why and how they will complement the forward genetic analysis of behavior.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Center for Neurobiology and Behavior, Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, New York 10032, USA. or38@columbia.edu
authors.forename: Oliver
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Hobert
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological / Q000235:genetics*; D000818:Animals; D001245:Association Learning; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D002633:Chemotaxis / Q000235:genetics; D005824:Genetics, Behavioral; D016678:Genome; D006185:Habituation, Psychophysiologic; D008124:Locomotion; D019563:Mechanics; D008954:Models, Biological; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D009154:Mutation; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000502:physiology; D009424:Nervous System Physiological Phenomena; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000502:physiology; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D012701:Serotonin / Q000502:physiology; D015398:Signal Transduction; D013696:Temperature
chemical_list: D012701:Serotonin