title: Glia-derived neurons are required for sex-specific learning in C. elegans.
abstract: Sex differences in behaviour extend to cognitive-like processes such as learning, but the underlying dimorphisms in neural circuit development and organization that generate these behavioural differences are largely unknown. Here we define at the single-cell level-from development, through neural circuit connectivity, to function-the neural basis of a sex-specific learning in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. We show that sexual conditioning, a form of associative learning, requires a pair of male-specific interneurons whose progenitors are fully differentiated glia. These neurons are generated during sexual maturation and incorporated into pre-exisiting sex-shared circuits to couple chemotactic responses to reproductive priorities. Our findings reveal a general role for glia as neural progenitors across metazoan taxa and demonstrate that the addition of sex-specific neuron types to brain circuits during sexual maturation is an important mechanism for the generation of sexually dimorphic plasticity in learning.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University College London, London, WC1E 6BT.
authors.forename: Michele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sammut
authors.affiliation: Dominick P. Purpura Department of Neuroscience, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10461.
authors.forename: Steven J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Cook
authors.affiliation: Dominick P. Purpura Department of Neuroscience, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10461.
authors.forename: Ken C Q
authors.initials: KCQ
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University College London, London, WC1E 6BT.
authors.forename: Terry
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Felton
authors.affiliation: Dominick P. Purpura Department of Neuroscience, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10461.
authors.forename: David H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Hall
authors.affiliation: Dominick P. Purpura Department of Neuroscience, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10461.|Department of Genetics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10461.
authors.forename: Scott W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Emmons
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University College London, London, WC1E 6BT.
authors.forename: Richard J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Poole
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University College London, London, WC1E 6BT.
authors.forename: Arantza
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Barrios
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000166:cytology; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology*; D002455:Cell Division; D002469:Cell Separation; D054338:Cell Transdifferentiation; D002633:Chemotaxis; D003214:Conditioning, Classical / Q000502:physiology; D007395:Interneurons / Q000145:classification / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology*; D007858:Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D009434:Neural Pathways; D058953:Neural Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology; D055495:Neurogenesis; D009457:Neuroglia / Q000166:cytology*; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity; D012098:Reproduction / Q000502:physiology; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D012726:Sexual Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology; D012741:Sexual Maturation; D059010:Single-Cell Analysis