title: Magnetosensitive neurons mediate geomagnetic orientation in Caenorhabditis elegans.
abstract: Many organisms spanning from bacteria to mammals orient to the earth's magnetic field. For a few animals, central neurons responsive to earth-strength magnetic fields have been identified; however, magnetosensory neurons have yet to be identified in any animal. We show that the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans orients to the earth's magnetic field during vertical burrowing migrations. Well-fed worms migrated up, while starved worms migrated down. Populations isolated from around the world, migrated at angles to the magnetic vector that would optimize vertical translation in their native soil, with northern- and southern-hemisphere worms displaying opposite migratory preferences. Magnetic orientation and vertical migrations required the TAX-4 cyclic nucleotide-gated ion channel in the AFD sensory neuron pair. Calcium imaging showed that these neurons respond to magnetic fields even without synaptic input. C. elegans may have adapted magnetic orientation to simplify their vertical burrowing migration by reducing the orientation task from three dimensions to one.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience; Center for Brain, Behavior and Evolution; Center for Learning and Memory; Waggoner Center for Alcohol and Addiction Research; Institute of Cell and Molecular Biology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, United States.
authors.forename: Andrés
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5981-5528
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vidal-Gadea
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience; Center for Brain, Behavior and Evolution; Center for Learning and Memory; Waggoner Center for Alcohol and Addiction Research; Institute of Cell and Molecular Biology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, United States.
authors.forename: Kristi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ward
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience; Center for Brain, Behavior and Evolution; Center for Learning and Memory; Waggoner Center for Alcohol and Addiction Research; Institute of Cell and Molecular Biology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, United States.
authors.forename: Celia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Beron
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, United States.
authors.forename: Navid
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ghorashian
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, United States.
authors.forename: Sertan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gokce
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience; Center for Brain, Behavior and Evolution; Center for Learning and Memory; Waggoner Center for Alcohol and Addiction Research; Institute of Cell and Molecular Biology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, United States.
authors.forename: Joshua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Russell
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience; Center for Brain, Behavior and Evolution; Center for Learning and Memory; Waggoner Center for Alcohol and Addiction Research; Institute of Cell and Molecular Biology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, United States.
authors.forename: Nicholas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Truong
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience; Center for Brain, Behavior and Evolution; Center for Learning and Memory; Waggoner Center for Alcohol and Addiction Research; Institute of Cell and Molecular Biology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, United States.
authors.forename: Adhishri
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Parikh
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience; Center for Brain, Behavior and Evolution; Center for Learning and Memory; Waggoner Center for Alcohol and Addiction Research; Institute of Cell and Molecular Biology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, United States.
authors.forename: Otilia
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Gadea
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, United States.
authors.forename: Adela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ben-Yakar
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience; Center for Brain, Behavior and Evolution; Center for Learning and Memory; Waggoner Center for Alcohol and Addiction Research; Institute of Cell and Molecular Biology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, United States.
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pierce-Shimomura
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000502:physiology*; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D007473:Ion Channels / Q000378:metabolism; D008124:Locomotion; D008280:Magnetics; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D009949:Orientation
chemical_list: D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D007473:Ion Channels; C102184:tax-4 protein, C elegans
keywords: C. elegans; magnetosensation; migration; nematode; neuroscience