Temperature sensing by an olfactory neuron in a circuit controlling behavior of C. elegans.
Temperature is an unavoidable environmental cue that affects the metabolism and behavior of any creature on Earth, yet how animals perceive temperature is poorly understood. The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans "memorizes" temperatures, and this stored information modifies its subsequent migration along a temperature gradient. We show that the olfactory neuron designated AWC senses temperature. Calcium imaging revealed that AWC responds to temperature changes and that response thresholds differ depending on the temperature to which the animal was previously exposed. In the mutant with impaired heterotrimeric guanine nucleotide-binding protein (G protein)-mediated signaling, AWC was hyperresponsive to temperature, whereas the AIY interneuron (which is postsynaptic to AWC) was hyporesponsive to temperature. Thus, temperature sensation exhibits a robust influence on a neural circuit controlling a memory-regulated behavior.
Kuhara
Atsushi
A
Group of Molecular Neurobiology, Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University, Nagoya 464-8602, Japan.
Okumura
Masatoshi
M
Kimata
Tsubasa
T
Tanizawa
Yoshinori
Y
Takano
Ryo
R
Kimura
Koutarou D
KD
Inada
Hitoshi
H
Matsumoto
Kunihiro
K
Mori
Ikue
I
D000818:Animals; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000502:physiology*; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism; D020555:GTP-Binding Protein Regulators / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D019204:GTP-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D009833:Olfactory Pathways / Q000502:physiology; D018034:Olfactory Receptor Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D015398:Signal Transduction; D013697:Thermosensing / Q000502:physiology*
D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; C120636:EAT-16 protein, C elegans; D020555:GTP-Binding Protein Regulators; D019204:GTP-Binding Proteins; D002118:Calcium