title: Connectomics, the Final Frontier.
abstract: How the synaptic connections in the nervous system are genetically encoded and formed during development remains an unsolved problem. The known connectivity of the nervous system of the nematode C. elegans provides an opportunity to search for the genes involved. The circuits for male mating behavior form a complex neural network that would seem to require a large family of molecular cell labels for pre- and postsynaptic cell recognition. It is suggested that a combinatorial code of neural cell adhesion proteins specifying the network of connections may be discovered by comparing the expression patterns of candidate genes with the pattern of connections.
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York, USA; Dominick P. Purpura Department of Neuroscience, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York, USA. Electronic address: scott.emmons@einstein.yu.edu.
authors.forename: Scott W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Emmons
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000502:physiology*; D002450:Cell Communication; D063132:Connectome / Q000379:methods*; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D008297:Male; D009415:Nerve Net; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D009420:Nervous System; D012726:Sexual Behavior, Animal; D013569:Synapses / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins
keywords: C. elegans; Combinatorial code; Nervous system; Nervous system development; Neural cell adhesion protein; Neural network; Synapse; Synaptic connectivity