Locomotion analysis identifies roles of mechanosensory neurons in governing locomotion dynamics of C. elegans

• DOI: 10.1242/jeb.075416
• Publication Date: 2012-07-19T11:54:52Z
• Authors: Emiliano Cohen; Eviatar Yemini; William Schafer; Dror G. Feitelson; Millet Treinin
• Keywords: 0301 basic medicine; 03 medical and health sciences; Behavior, Animal; Sensory Receptor Cells; Animals; Caenorhabditis elegans; Mechanotransduction, Cellular; Locomotion

Summary The simple and well-characterized nervous system of C. elegans facilitates analysis of mechanisms controlling behavior. Locomotion is a major behavioral output governed by multiple external and internal signals. Here we examine the roles of low- and high-threshold mechanosensors in locomotion, using high-resolution and detailed analysis of locomotion and its dynamics. This analysis reveals a new role for touch receptor neurons in suppressing an intrinsic direction bias of locomotion. We also examine the response to noxious mechanical stimuli, showing a response entailing several locomotion properties and lasting several minutes. Effects on different locomotion properties have different half-lives and depend on different partly overlapping sets of sensory neurons. PVD and FLP, high-threshold mechanosensors, play a major role in some of these responses. Overall, our results demonstrate the power of detailed, prolonged, and high-resolution analysis of locomotion and locomotion dynamics in enabling better understanding of gene and neuron function.