title: Inhibition of gustatory plasticity due to acute nicotine exposure in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans.
abstract: The present study investigated the effect of nicotine exposure on gustatory plasticity in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. The chemotactic response of wild-type N2 nematodes pre-exposed to 100mM NaCl with 3.0mM nicotine was almost the same as that of mock-conditioned nematodes unexposed to NaCl; however, the response of N2 nematodes pre-exposed to NaCl without nicotine was significantly lower than that of mock-conditioned nematodes. These results indicate that gustatory plasticity is inhibited by acute nicotine exposure. Inhibition of gustatory plasticity was observed when cat-2 mutants with a defect in dopamine biosynthesis were pre-exposed to NaCl with 3.0mM nicotine. Acute nicotine exposure did not cause inhibition of gustatory plasticity in bas-1 mutants, which had defects in both serotonin and dopamine secretion, and tph-1 mutants, which had a defect in serotonin secretion only. However, inhibition of gustatory plasticity was observed when bas-1 and tph-1 mutants were maintained on a growth plate that included serotonin. These results suggest that serotonin signaling plays an essential role in the modulation of the acute effects of nicotine.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Behavioral Physiology, Faculty of Engineering, Iwate University, 4-3-5 Ueda, Morioka 020-8551, Japan; Division of Thermo-Biosystem Relations, United Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Iwate University, Morioka, Japan. Electronic address: matsuura@iwate-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Tetsuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Matsuura
authors.forename: Hitoshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Miura
authors.forename: Asuka
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nishino
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D007858:Learning / Q000187:drug effects*; D008124:Locomotion / Q000187:drug effects; D009538:Nicotine / Q000633:toxicity*; D018722:Nicotinic Agonists / Q000633:toxicity*; D012701:Serotonin / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000494:pharmacology; D013649:Taste / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D018722:Nicotinic Agonists; D012701:Serotonin; D009538:Nicotine
keywords: Caenorhabditis elegans; Chemotaxis; Gustatory plasticity; Nicotine; Serotonin