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Related Experiment Videos

Experience-dependent modulation of C. elegans behavior by ambient oxygen.

Benny H H Cheung1, Merav Cohen, Candida Rogers

  • 1MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, United Kingdom.

Current Biology : CB
|May 27, 2005
PubMed
Summary

C. elegans worms change their movement in response to oxygen levels, using specific guanylate cyclases (GCY-35 and GCY-36) to sense and adapt to changing oxygen environments.

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Behavioral Biology
  • Genetics

Background:

  • Ambient oxygen (O2) significantly impacts organismal behavior.
  • In *C. elegans*, the soluble guanylate cyclase (sGC) GCY-35 is known to regulate O2 responses.
  • Understanding how acute and chronic O2 changes affect behavior remains limited.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the mechanisms underlying *C. elegans* behavioral responses to varying oxygen levels.
  • To elucidate the role of sGCs, specifically GCY-35 and GCY-36, in mediating these responses.
  • To explore the plasticity of O2 sensing and behavioral adaptation in *C. elegans*.

Main Methods:

  • Observation of *C. elegans* behavioral responses (roaming, turning, speed) to different ambient O2 concentrations.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Genetic analysis involving *C. elegans* strains with altered sGC expression (GCY-35, GCY-36) and neuropeptide receptors (npr-1).
  • Experimental manipulation of O2 cultivation conditions (e.g., 1% O2) to assess behavioral plasticity.

    • Main Results:

    • *C. elegans* exhibit a rapid, reversible, and graded inhibition of roaming behavior in response to reduced ambient O2, termed aerokinesis.
    • GCY-35 and GCY-36 sGCs mediate this aerokinetic response, appearing to activate upon O2 decrease and depolarize specific neurons (AQR, PQR, URX).
    • Coexpression of GCY-35 and GCY-36 confers O2 sensing ability to olfactory neurons, and prior cultivation in low O2 reprograms preferred O2 levels, involving neural plasticity.

    Conclusions:

    • *C. elegans* navigate O2 gradients by modulating turning rates and movement speed.
    • Aerotaxis behavior is adaptable, influenced by experience or artificial engineering.
    • A model suggests prolonged low O2 activation of AQR, PQR, and URX neurons enables low-O2 aerotaxis and potentially encodes a 'memory' of prior O2 exposure.