title: A single gene target of an ETS-family transcription factor determines neuronal CO2-chemosensitivity.
abstract: Many animals possess neurons specialized for the detection of carbon dioxide (CO(2)), which acts as a cue to elicit behavioral responses and is also an internally generated product of respiration that regulates animal physiology. In many organisms how such neurons detect CO(2) is poorly understood. We report here a mechanism that endows C. elegans neurons with the ability to detect CO(2). The ETS-5 transcription factor is necessary for the specification of CO(2)-sensing BAG neurons. Expression of a single ETS-5 target gene, gcy-9, which encodes a receptor-type guanylate cyclase, is sufficient to bypass a requirement for ets-5 in CO(2)-detection and transforms neurons into CO(2)-sensing neurons. Because ETS-5 and GCY-9 are members of gene families that are conserved between nematodes and vertebrates, a similar mechanism might act in the specification of CO(2)-sensing neurons in other phyla.
authors.affiliation: The Helen L. and Martin S. Kimmel Center for Biology and Medicine at the Skirball Institute of Biomolecular Medicine, Molecular Neurobiology Program, New York, New York, United States of America.
authors.forename: Julia P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Brandt
authors.forename: Sonya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Aziz-Zaman
authors.forename: Vaida
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Juozaityte
authors.forename: Luis A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Martinez-Velazquez
authors.forename: Jakob Gramstrup
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Petersen
authors.forename: Roger
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pocock
authors.forename: Niels
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ringstad
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D001665:Binding Sites; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D017353:Gene Deletion; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006162:Guanylate Cyclase / Q000378:metabolism*; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence / Q000379:methods; D009154:Mutation; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism; D010957:Plasmids / Q000378:metabolism; D050783:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-ets / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology; D050705:Receptors, Guanylate Cyclase-Coupled / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D011984:Sensory Receptor Cells / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; C575915:ETS-5 protein, C elegans; D050783:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-ets; D002245:Carbon Dioxide; C575916:GCY-9 protein, C elegans; D006162:Guanylate Cyclase; D050705:Receptors, Guanylate Cyclase-Coupled