Reduced sleep-like quiescence in both hyperactive and hypoactive mutants of the Galphaq Gene egl-30 during lethargus in Caenorhabditis elegans.
Sleep-like states are characterized by massively reduced behavioral activity. Little is known about genetic control of sleep-like behavior. It is also not clear how general activity levels during wake-like behavior influence activity levels during sleep-like behavior. Mutations that increase wake-like activity are generally believed to also increase activity during sleep-like behavior and mutations that decrease wake-like activity are believed to have decreased activity during sleep-like behavior. We studied sleep-like behavior during lethargus in larvae of Caenorhabditis elegans. We looked through a small set of known mutants with altered activity levels. As expected, mutants with increased activity levels typically showed less sleep-like behavior. Among these hyperactive mutants was a gain-of-function mutant of the conserved heterotrimeric G protein subunit Galphaq gene egl-30. We found, however, that an unusual semidominant hypoactive mutant of egl-30 also had reduced sleep-like behavior. While movement was severely reduced and impaired in the semidominant egl-30 mutant, sleep-like behavior was severely reduced: the semidominant egl-30 mutant lacked prolonged periods of complete immobility, reduced spontaneous neural activity less, and reduced responsiveness to stimulation less. egl-30 is a well-known regulator of behavior. Our results suggest that egl-30 controls not only general activity levels, but also differences between wake-like and sleep-like behavior.
Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Göttingen, Germany.
Juliane
J
Schwarz
Henrik
H
Bringmann
D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified / Q000502:physiology*; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000502:physiology*; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism; D043802:GTP-Binding Protein alpha Subunits, Gq-G11 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D007814:Larva / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D053609:Lethargy / Q000503:physiopathology*; D040542:Mechanotransduction, Cellular; D009154:Mutation / Q000235:genetics*; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology; D015398:Signal Transduction; D012890:Sleep / Q000502:physiology*; D014851:Wakefulness
D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; C479565:Egl-30 protein, C elegans; D043802:GTP-Binding Protein alpha Subunits, Gq-G11; D002118:Calcium