title: Memory of recent oxygen experience switches pheromone valence inCaenorhabditis elegans.
abstract: Animals adjust their behavioral priorities according to momentary needs and prior experience. We show thatCaenorhabditis eleganschanges how it processes sensory information according to the oxygen environment it experienced recently.C. elegansacclimated to 7% O2are aroused by CO2and repelled by pheromones that attract animals acclimated to 21% O2This behavioral plasticity arises from prolonged activity differences in a circuit that continuously signals O2levels. A sustained change in the activity of O2-sensing neurons reprograms the properties of their postsynaptic partners, the RMG hub interneurons. RMG is gap-junctionally coupled to the ASK and ADL pheromone sensors that respectively drive pheromone attraction and repulsion. Prior O2experience has opposite effects on the pheromone responsiveness of these neurons. These circuit changes provide a physiological correlate of altered pheromone valence. Our results suggestC. elegansstores a memory of recent O2experience in the RMG circuit and illustrate how a circuit is flexibly sculpted to guide behavioral decisions in a context-dependent manner.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cell Biology, Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, CB2 0QH, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Lorenz A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Fenk
authors.affiliation: Division of Cell Biology, Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, CB2 0QH, United Kingdom debono@mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Mario
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-8347-0443
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: de Bono
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D010100:Oxygen / Q000378:metabolism*; D010675:Pheromones / Q000494:pharmacology*; D012677:Sensation / Q000187:drug effects; D015398:Signal Transduction
chemical_list: D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D010675:Pheromones; D010100:Oxygen
keywords: acclimation; experience-dependent plasticity; neural circuit; oxygen sensing; tonic circuit