title: Nictation, a dispersal behavior of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, is regulated by IL2 neurons.
abstract: Many nematodes show a stage-specific behavior called nictation in which a worm stands on its tail and waves its head in three dimensions. Here we show that nictation is a dispersal behavior regulated by a specific set of neurons, the IL2 cells, in C. elegans. We established assays for nictation and showed that cholinergic transmission was required for nictation. Cell type-specific rescue experiments and genetic ablation experiments revealed that the IL2 ciliated head neurons were essential for nictation. Intact cilia in IL2 neurons, but not in other ciliated head neurons, were essential, as the restoration of the corresponding wild-type gene activity in IL2 neurons alone in cilia-defective mutants was sufficient to restore nictation. Optogenetic activation of IL2 neurons induced nictation, suggesting that signals from IL2 neurons are sufficient for nictation. Finally, we demonstrated that nictation is required for transmission of C. elegans to a new niche using flies as artificial carriers, suggesting a role of nictation as a dispersal and survival strategy under harsh conditions.
authors.affiliation: Research Center for Functional Cellulomics, Institute of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Seoul National University School of Biological Sciences, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Harksun
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Myung-kyu
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Daehan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Hye-sung
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Hyejin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hwang
authors.forename: Heekyeong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Sungsu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Young-ki
authors.initials: YK
authors.lastname: Paik
authors.forename: Junho
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000109:Acetylcholine / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000502:physiology*; D002923:Cilia / Q000502:physiology; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D009435:Synaptic Transmission / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D000109:Acetylcholine
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