title: Ethanol interferes with gustatory plasticity in Caenorhabditis elegans.
abstract: Ethanol affects the formation of learning and memory in many species. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying the behavioral effects of ethanol are still poorly understood. In Caenorhabditis elegans, gustatory plasticity is a simple learning paradigm, in which animals after prolonged pre-exposure to a chemo-attractive salt in the absence of food show chemo-aversion to this salt during subsequent chemotaxis test stage. We characterized the effect of ethanol on this simple learning model. Our results showed that ethanol administration interfered with gustatory plasticity during pre-exposure or test stage in well-fed worms. Genetic analysis revealed that one mutant previously implicated involved in acute ethanol responses, slo-1, as well as two mutants with defects in serotonin synthesis, tph-1 and bas-1, failed to exhibit ethanol interference with gustatory plasticity. Furthermore, two metabotropic serotonin receptors, SER-4 and SER-7, were found to be involved in ethanol-mediated gustatory plasticity. In addition, the tph-1 and ser-4 loci were also involved in ethanol's effect on locomotion behavior. These data suggested an essential role of serotonin signaling in modulating acute effects of ethanol.
authors: Department of Systems Biology, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, People's Republic of China. wangying19820608@gmail.com
authors: Ying
authors: Y
authors: Wang
authors: Lichun
authors: L
authors: Tang
authors: Xiaojun
authors: X
authors: Feng
authors: Wei
authors: W
authors: Du
authors: Bi-Feng
authors: BF
authors: Liu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D002492:Central Nervous System Depressants / Q000009:adverse effects*; D002633:Chemotaxis / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D000431:Ethanol / Q000009:adverse effects*; D051036:Large-Conductance Calcium-Activated Potassium Channels / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D007858:Learning / Q000187:drug effects*; D008124:Locomotion / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D044422:Receptors, Serotonin, 5-HT4 / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D012701:Serotonin / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D002492:Central Nervous System Depressants; D051036:Large-Conductance Calcium-Activated Potassium Channels; C494845:slo-1 protein, C elegans; D044422:Receptors, Serotonin, 5-HT4; D012701:Serotonin; D000431:Ethanol