論文 - 詳細
| RRC ID | 46194 |
|---|---|
| 著者 | Sherlekar AL, Janssen A, Siehr MS, Koo PK, Caflisch L, Boggess M, Lints R. |
| タイトル | The C. elegans male exercises directional control during mating through cholinergic regulation of sex-shared command interneurons. |
| ジャーナル | PLoS One |
| Abstract |
BACKGROUND:Mating behaviors in simple invertebrate model organisms represent tractable paradigms for understanding the neural bases of sex-specific behaviors, decision-making and sensorimotor integration. However, there are few examples where such neural circuits have been defined at high resolution or interrogated. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:Here we exploit the simplicity of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans to define the neural circuits underlying the male's decision to initiate mating in response to contact with a mate. Mate contact is sensed by male-specific sensilla of the tail, the rays, which subsequently induce and guide a contact-based search of the hermaphrodite's surface for the vulva (the vulva search). Atypically, search locomotion has a backward directional bias so its implementation requires overcoming an intrinsic bias for forward movement, set by activity of the sex-shared locomotory system. Using optogenetics, cell-specific ablation- and mutant behavioral analyses, we show that the male makes this shift by manipulating the activity of command cells within this sex-shared locomotory system. The rays control the command interneurons through the male-specific, decision-making interneuron PVY and its auxiliary cell PVX. Unlike many sex-shared pathways, PVY/PVX regulate the command cells via cholinergic, rather than glutamatergic transmission, a feature that likely contributes to response specificity and coordinates directional movement with other cholinergic-dependent motor behaviors of the mating sequence. PVY/PVX preferentially activate the backward, and not forward, command cells because of a bias in synaptic inputs and the distribution of key cholinergic receptors (encoded by the genes acr-18, acr-16 and unc-29) in favor of the backward command cells. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE:Our interrogation of male neural circuits reveals that a sex-specific response to the opposite sex is conferred by a male-specific pathway that renders subordinate, sex-shared motor programs responsive to mate cues. Circuit modifications of these types may make prominent contributions to natural variations in behavior that ultimately bring about speciation. |
| 巻・号 | 8(4) |
| ページ | e60597 |
| 公開日 | 2013-1-1 |
| DOI | 10.1371/journal.pone.0060597 |
| PII | PONE-D-12-32324 |
| PMID | 23577128 |
| PMC | PMC3618225 |
| MeSH | Animals Caenorhabditis elegans / cytology* Caenorhabditis elegans / physiology* Choline / metabolism* Decision Making Female Interneurons / cytology Interneurons / metabolism* Locomotion / physiology* Male Optogenetics Sex Characteristics* Sexual Behavior, Animal / physiology* Synaptic Transmission Vulva |
| IF | 2.74 |
| 引用数 | 24 |
| WOS 分野 | NEUROSCIENCES |
| リソース情報 | |
| 線虫 | tm1880 |