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A memory of recent oxygen experience switches pheromone valence in C. elegans

Lorenz A. Fenk, Mario de Bono
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/107524
Lorenz A. Fenk
1MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Francis Crick Avenue, Cambridge, CB2 0QH, United Kingdom.
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Mario de Bono
1MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Francis Crick Avenue, Cambridge, CB2 0QH, United Kingdom.
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ABSTRACT

Animals adjust their behavioral priorities according to momentary needs and prior experience. We show that C. elegans changes how it processes sensory information according to the oxygen environment it experienced recently. C.elegans acclimated to 7% O2 are aroused by CO2 and repelled by pheromones that attract animals acclimated to 21% O2. This behavioral plasticity arises from prolonged activity differences in a circuit that continuously signals O2 levels. A sustained change in the activity of O2 sensing neurons reprograms the properties of their post-synaptic partners, the RMG hub interneurons. RMG is gap-junctionally coupled to the ASK and ADL pheromone sensors that respectively drive pheromone attraction and repulsion. Prior O2 experience has opposite effects on the pheromone responsiveness of these neurons. These circuit changes provide a physiological correlate of altered pheromone valence. Our results suggest C. elegans stores a memory of recent O2 experience in the RMG circuit and illustrate how a circuit is flexibly sculpted to guide behavioral decisions in a context-dependent manner.

Footnotes

  • Classification: Major category - Biological Sciences, Minor category - Neuroscience; Genetics

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The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission.
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Posted February 10, 2017.
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A memory of recent oxygen experience switches pheromone valence in C. elegans
Lorenz A. Fenk, Mario de Bono
bioRxiv 107524; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/107524
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A memory of recent oxygen experience switches pheromone valence in C. elegans
Lorenz A. Fenk, Mario de Bono
bioRxiv 107524; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/107524

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