Elsevier

Developmental Biology

Volume 82, Issue 2, March 1981, Pages 358-370
Developmental Biology

Full paper
Developmental genetics of the mechanosensory neurons of Caenorhabditis elegans

https://doi.org/10.1016/0012-1606(81)90459-0Get rights and content

Abstract

Touch sensitivity in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans is mediated by a set of six sensory neurons, the microtubule cells, of well-characterized anatomy and connectivity. The normal touch response is eliminated when these cells are killed by laser microsurgery. The identification of the microtubule cells as the mediators of touch sensitivity allows us to examine the effects of mutations on the development and differentiation of these cells. Forty-two touch-insensitive mutants have been isolated. These fall into 13 complementation groups. Mutations in five of the complementation groups have recognizable effects on the microtubule cells. These phenotypes include alterations of characteristic cellular ultrastructure, absence of neuronal process growth, and the absence of the cell (either by alterations in the patterns of cell division that give rise to the cells or by degeneration or death of existing cells). Because it is likely that we are approaching saturation of genes affecting primarily the microtubule cells, there appear to be relatively few genes that affect the growth and function of this class of cells and no others.

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    This work was done during the tenure of a British American Research Fellowship of the American Heart Association and British Heart Foundation to M.C.

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