title: Dopamine signaling tunes spatial pattern selectivity in C. elegans.
abstract: Animals with complex brains can discriminate the spatial arrangement of physical features in the environment. It is unknown whether such sensitivity to spatial patterns can be accomplished in simpler nervoussystemsthat lack long-range sensory modalities such as vision and hearing. Here we show that the nematodeCaenorhabditis eleganscan discriminate spatial patterns in its surroundings, despite having a nervous system of only 302 neurons. This spatial pattern selectivity requires touch-dependent dopamine signaling, including the mechanosensory TRP-4 channel in dopaminergic neurons and the D2-like dopamine receptor DOP-3. We find that spatial pattern selectivity varies significantly amongC. eleganswild isolates. Electrophysiological recordings show that natural variations in TRP-4 reduce the mechanosensitivity of dopaminergic neurons. Polymorphic substitutions in either TRP-4 or DOP-3 alter the selectivity of spatial patterns. Together, these results demonstrate an ancestral role for dopamine signaling in tuning spatial pattern preferences in a simple nervous system.
authors.affiliation: Basic Sciences Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, United States.
authors.forename: Bicheng
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: Basic Sciences Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, United States.
authors.forename: Yongming
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-6510-0913
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.affiliation: Basic Sciences Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, United States.
authors.forename: Lin
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-9065-4168
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Basic Sciences Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, United States.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-5631-7272
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Basic Sciences Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, United States.
authors.forename: Ithai
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-0361-9055
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Rabinowitch
authors.affiliation: Basic Sciences Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, United States.
authors.forename: Jihong
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-6773-2175
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bai
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000502:physiology*; D059290:Dopaminergic Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D000072458:Orientation, Spatial
keywords: C. elegans; TRP channel; dopamine; natural variation; neuroscience; spatial pattern selection