RRC ID 76040
Author Ramachandran S, Banerjee N, Bhattacharya R, Lemons ML, Florman J, Lambert CM, Touroutine D, Alexander K, Schoofs L, Alkema MJ, Beets I, Francis MM.
Title A conserved neuropeptide system links head and body motor circuits to enable adaptive behavior.
Journal Elife
Abstract Neuromodulators promote adaptive behaviors that are often complex and involve concerted activity changes across circuits that are often not physically connected. It is not well understood how neuromodulatory systems accomplish these tasks. Here, we show that the Caenorhabditis elegans NLP-12 neuropeptide system shapes responses to food availability by modulating the activity of head and body wall motor neurons through alternate G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR) targets, CKR-1 and CKR-2. We show ckr-2 deletion reduces body bend depth during movement under basal conditions. We demonstrate CKR-1 is a functional NLP-12 receptor and define its expression in the nervous system. In contrast to basal locomotion, biased CKR-1 GPCR stimulation of head motor neurons promotes turning during local searching. Deletion of ckr-1 reduces head neuron activity and diminishes turning while specific ckr-1 overexpression or head neuron activation promote turning. Thus, our studies suggest locomotor responses to changing food availability are regulated through conditional NLP-12 stimulation of head or body wall motor circuits.
Volume 10
Published 2021-11-12
DOI 10.7554/eLife.71747
PII 71747
PMID 34766905
PMC PMC8626090
MeSH Adaptation, Psychological* Animals Caenorhabditis elegans / genetics Caenorhabditis elegans / physiology* Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / genetics Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / physiology* Locomotion / genetics Neuropeptides / genetics* Neuropeptides / metabolism Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled / genetics Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled / physiology*
Resource
C.elegans tm3082