title: Revisiting Neuronal Cell Type Classification in Caenorhabditis elegans.
abstract: We revisit the classification of neuronal cell types in the nervous system of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Based on anatomy and synaptic connectivity patterns, the 302 neurons of the nervous system of the hermaphrodite were categorized into 118 neuron classes more than 30 years ago. Analysis of all presently available neuronal gene expression patterns reveals a remarkable congruence of anatomical and molecular classification and further suggests subclassification schemes. Transcription factor expression profiles alone are sufficient to uniquely classify more than 90% of all neuron classes in the C. elegans nervous system. Neuron classification in C. elegans may be paradigmatic for neuron classification schemes in vertebrate nervous systems.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Columbia University, HHMI, New York, NY 10027, USA. Electronic address: or38@columbia.edu.
authors.forename: Oliver
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Hobert
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Columbia University, HHMI, New York, NY 10027, USA.
authors.forename: Lori
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Glenwinkel
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Optical and Computational Instrumentation, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706, USA. Electronic address: jwhite1@wisc.edu.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: White
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D009474:Neurons / Q000145:classification*; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism*; D059467:Transcriptome
chemical_list: D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors