Journal
CURRENT BIOLOGY
Volume 14, Issue 24, Pages 2245-2251Publisher
CELL PRESS
DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2004.12.030
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Funding
- NIGMS NIH HHS [R01 GM56223] Funding Source: Medline
- NIMH NIH HHS [T32 MH19929, T32 MH019929] Funding Source: Medline
- NINDS NIH HHS [P01 NS44232, T32 NS007292] Funding Source: Medline
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Most C. elegans sensory neuron types consist of a single bilateral pair of neurons, and respond to a unique set of sensory stimuli. Although genes required for the development and function of individual sensory neuron types have been identified in forward genetic screens, these approaches are unlikely to identify genes that when mutated result in subtle or pleiotropic phenotypes. Here, we describe a complementary approach to identify sensory neuron type-specific genes via microarray analysis using RNA from sorted AWB olfactory and AFD thermosensory neurons. The expression patterns of subsets of these genes were further verified in vivo. Genes identified by this analysis encode 7-transmembrane receptors, kinases, and nuclearfactors including dac-1, which encodes a homolog of the highly conserved Dachshund protein [1]. dac-1 is expressed in a subset of sensory neurons including the AFD neurons and is regulated by the TTX-1 OTX homeodomain protein [2]. On thermal gradients, dac-1 mutants fail to suppress a cryophilic drive but continue to track isotherms at the cultivation temperature, representing the first genetic separation of these AFD-mediated behaviors. Expression profiling of single neuron types provides a rapid, powerful, and unbiased method for identifying neuron-specific genes whose functions can then be investigated in vivo.
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