title: Receptor-type guanylate cyclase is required for carbon dioxide sensation by Caenorhabditis elegans.
abstract: CO(2) is both a critical regulator of animal physiology and an important sensory cue for many animals for host detection, food location, and mate finding. The free-living soil nematode Caenorhabditis elegans shows CO(2) avoidance behavior, which requires a pair of ciliated sensory neurons, the BAG neurons. Using in vivo calcium imaging, we show that CO(2) specifically activates the BAG neurons and that the CO(2)-sensing function of BAG neurons requires TAX-2/TAX-4 cyclic nucleotide-gated ion channels and the receptor-type guanylate cyclase GCY-9. Our results delineate a molecular pathway for CO(2) sensing and suggest that activation of a receptor-type guanylate cyclase is an evolutionarily conserved mechanism by which animals detect environmental CO(2).
authors.affiliation: Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Division of Biology, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA.
authors.forename: Elissa A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Hallem
authors.forename: W Clay
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Spencer
authors.forename: Rebecca D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: McWhirter
authors.forename: Georg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zeller
authors.forename: Stefan R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Henz
authors.forename: Gunnar
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Rätsch
authors.forename: David M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.forename: H Robert
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Horvitz
authors.forename: Paul W
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Sternberg
authors.forename: Niels
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ringstad
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D005075:Biological Evolution; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000201:enzymology / Q000502:physiology*; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000633:toxicity; D002633:Chemotaxis / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000235:genetics; D040461:Gene Components; D006162:Guanylate Cyclase / Q000378:metabolism*; D007473:Ion Channels / Q000378:metabolism*; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism*; D010802:Phylogeny; D050705:Receptors, Guanylate Cyclase-Coupled / Q000378:metabolism*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D012903:Smell / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D019076:Transgenes / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D017931:DNA Primers; D007473:Ion Channels; C102183:tax-2 protein, C elegans; C102184:tax-4 protein, C elegans; D002245:Carbon Dioxide; C575916:GCY-9 protein, C elegans; D006162:Guanylate Cyclase; D050705:Receptors, Guanylate Cyclase-Coupled