Sexually dimorphic control of gene expression in sensory neurons regulates decision-making behavior in C. elegans

Animal behavior is directed by the integration of sensory information from internal states and the environment. Neuroendocrine regulation of diverse behaviors of is under the control of the DAF-7/TGF-β ligand that is secreted from sensory neurons. Here, we show that males exhibit an altered, male-sp...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:eLife 2017-01, Vol.6
Main Authors: Hilbert, Zoë A, Kim, Dennis H
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Bacteria
Behavior
Behavior, Animal
Caenorhabditis elegans
Caenorhabditis elegans - genetics
Caenorhabditis elegans - physiology
Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins - metabolism
Clinical decision making
daf-7
Decision Making
Dimorphism (Biology)
E coli
Experiments
Female
Gene expression
Gene Expression Regulation
Genetic analysis
Genetic aspects
Male
Males
Morphology
Nervous system
Neural circuitry
Neuroendocrine system
Neurons
Neuroscience
Nutritional status
Observations
Pseudomonas aeruginosa
Sensory integration
Sensory neurons
Sensory Receptor Cells - physiology
Sensory receptors
Sexual dimorphism
Transforming Growth Factor beta - metabolism
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:Animal behavior is directed by the integration of sensory information from internal states and the environment. Neuroendocrine regulation of diverse behaviors of is under the control of the DAF-7/TGF-β ligand that is secreted from sensory neurons. Here, we show that males exhibit an altered, male-specific expression pattern of in the ASJ sensory neuron pair with the onset of reproductive maturity, which functions to promote male-specific mate-searching behavior. Molecular genetic analysis of the switch-like regulation of expression in the ASJ neuron pair reveals a hierarchy of regulation among multiple inputs-sex, age, nutritional status, and microbial environment-which function in the modulation of behavior. Our results suggest that regulation of gene expression in sensory neurons can function in the integration of a wide array of sensory information and facilitate decision-making behaviors in .
ISSN:2050-084X
2050-084X
DOI:10.7554/eLife.21166