An Olfactory Neuron Responds Stochastically to Temperature and Modulates Caenorhabditis elegans Thermotactic Behavior

Caenorhabditis elegans navigates thermal gradients by using a behavioral strategy that is regulated by a memory of its cultivation temperature $(T_{{\rm c}})$. At temperatures above or around the $T_{{\rm c}}$, animals respond to temperature changes by modulating the rate of stochastic reorientation...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS 2008-08, Vol.105 (31), p.11002-11007
Main Authors: Biron, David, Wasserman, Sara, Thomas, James H., Samuel, Aravinthan D. T., Sengupta, Piali
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal behavior
Animals
Behavioral neuroscience
Biological Sciences
Caenorhabditis elegans
Caenorhabditis elegans - physiology
Calcium
Calcium - metabolism
Imaging
Isotherms
Mental stimulation
Movement - physiology
Navigation
Nematodes
Neurons
Neurons, Afferent - physiology
Olfactory Nerve - physiology
Proteins
Sensory neurons
Stochastic Processes
Temperature
Temperature gradients
Thermoreceptors - physiology
Thermosensing - physiology
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Caenorhabditis elegans navigates thermal gradients by using a behavioral strategy that is regulated by a memory of its cultivation temperature $(T_{{\rm c}})$. At temperatures above or around the $T_{{\rm c}}$, animals respond to temperature changes by modulating the rate of stochastic reorientation events. The bilateral AFD neurons have been implicated as thermosensory neurons, but additional thermosensory neurons are also predicted to play a role in regulating thermotactic behaviors. Here, we show that the AWC olfactory neurons respond to temperature. Unlike AFD neurons, which respond to thermal stimuli with continuous, graded calcium signals, AWC neurons exhibit stochastic calcium events whose frequency is stimulus-correlated in a $T_{{\rm c}}\text{-dependent}$ manner. Animals lacking the AWC neurons or with hyperactive AWC neurons exhibit defects in the regulation of reorientation rate in thermotactic behavior. Our observations suggest that the AFD and AWC neurons encode thermal stimuli via distinct strategies to regulate C. elegans thermotactic behavior.
ISSN:0027-8424
1091-6490
DOI:10.1073/pnas.0805004105