Journal
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Volume 111, Issue 7, Pages 2776-2781Publisher
NATL ACAD SCIENCES
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1315205111
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Funding
- National Science Foundation (NSF) [PHY-0957185]
- National Institutes of Health (NIH) [8DP1GM105383-05, R21 NS061147, 1P01GM103770, R01NS076558]
- NSF [IOS0725079]
- Human Frontier Science Program fellowship
- National Nature Science Foundation of China [11304153]
- Direct For Mathematical & Physical Scien
- Division Of Physics [0957185] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
- Div Of Biological Infrastructure
- Direct For Biological Sciences [1306621] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
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The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans navigates toward a preferred temperature setpoint (T-s) determined by long-term temperature exposure. During thermotaxis, the worm migrates down temperature gradients at temperatures above T-s (negative thermotaxis) and performs isothermal tracking near T-s. Under some conditions, the worm migrates up temperature gradients below T-s (positive thermotaxis). Here, we analyze positive and negative thermotaxis toward T-s to study the role of specific neurons that have been proposed to be involved in thermotaxis using genetic ablation, behavioral tracking, and calcium imaging. We find differences in the strategies for positive and negative thermotaxis. Negative thermotaxis is achieved through biasing the frequency of reorientation maneuvers (turns and reversal turns) and biasing the direction of reorientation maneuvers toward colder temperatures. Positive thermotaxis, in contrast, biases only the direction of reorientation maneuvers toward warmer temperatures. We find that the AFD thermosensory neuron drives both positive and negative thermotaxis. The AIY interneuron, which is postsynaptic to AFD, may mediate the switch from negative to positive thermotaxis below T-s. We propose that multiple thermotactic behaviors, each defined by a distinct set of sensorimotor transformations, emanate from the AFD thermosensory neurons. AFD learns and stores the memory of preferred temperatures, detects temperature gradients, and drives the appropriate thermotactic behavior in each temperature regime by the flexible use of downstream circuits.
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