Functionally asymmetric motor neurons contribute to coordinating locomotion of Caenorhabditis elegans

  • Locomotion circuits developed in simple animals, and circuit motifs further evolved in higher animals. To understand locomotion circuit motifs, they must be characterized in many models. The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans possesses one of the best-studied circuits for undulatory movement. Yet, for 1/6th of the cholinergic motor neurons (MNs), the AS MNs, functional information is unavailable. Ventral nerve cord (VNC) MNs coordinate undulations, in small circuits of complementary neurons innervating opposing muscles. AS MNs differ, as they innervate muscles and other MNs asymmetrically, without complementary partners. We characterized AS MNs by optogenetic, behavioral and imaging analyses. They generate asymmetric muscle activation, enabling navigation, and contribute to coordination of dorso-ventral undulation as well as anterio-posterior bending wave propagation. AS MN activity correlated with forward and backward locomotion, and they functionally connect to premotor interneurons (PINs) for both locomotion regimes. Electrical feedback from AS MNs via gap junctions may affect only backward PINs.
Metadaten
Author:Oleg Tolstenkov, Petrus van der AuweraORCiDGND, Wagner Steuer CostaORCiDGND, Olga Bazhanova, Tim Gemeinhard, Amelie BergsORCiD, Alexander GottschalkORCiDGND
URN:urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-472416
DOI:https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.34997
ISSN:2050-084X
Pubmed Id:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30204083
Parent Title (English):eLife
Publisher:eLife Sciences Publications
Place of publication:Cambridge
Document Type:Article
Language:English
Year of Completion:2018
Date of first Publication:2018/09/11
Publishing Institution:Universitätsbibliothek Johann Christian Senckenberg
Release Date:2018/10/09
Tag:Behavioral analysis; C. elegans; Ca2+ imaging; Gap junctions; Locomotor circuit; Neuroscience; Optogenetics; Research article
Volume:7
Issue:e34997
Page Number:28
First Page:1
Last Page:28
Note:
Copyright Tolstenkov et al. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.
HeBIS-PPN:439097983
Institutes:Medizin / Medizin
Dewey Decimal Classification:6 Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften / 61 Medizin und Gesundheit / 610 Medizin und Gesundheit
Sammlungen:Universitätspublikationen
Open-Access-Publikationsfonds:Biochemie, Chemie und Pharmazie
Licence (German):License LogoCreative Commons - Namensnennung 4.0