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Published Online April 10, 2008
Science DOI: 10.1126/science.1148922

Reports

Submitted on August 8, 2007
Accepted on March 5, 2008

Temperature Sensing by an Olfactory Neuron in a Circuit Controlling Behavior of C. elegans

Atsushi Kuhara 1{dagger}, Masatoshi Okumura 1{dagger}, Tsubasa Kimata 1, Yoshinori Tanizawa 2, Ryo Takano 1, Koutarou D. Kimura 3, Hitoshi Inada 4, Kunihiro Matsumoto 5, Ikue Mori 6*

1 Group of Molecular Neurobiology, Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University, Nagoya 464-8602, Japan.
2 Group of Molecular Neurobiology, Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University, Nagoya 464-8602, Japan; Present address: Division of Cell Biology, MRC-Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Hills Road, Cambridge CB2 0QH, UK.
3 Group of Molecular Neurobiology, Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University, Nagoya 464-8602, Japan; Present address: Structural Biology Center, National Institute of Genetics, Mishima 411-8540, Japan.
4 Group of Molecular Neurobiology, Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University, Nagoya 464-8602, Japan; Present address: Okazaki Institute for Integrative Bioscience, National Institutes of Natural Sciences, Okazaki 444-8787, Japan.
5 Group of Signal Transduction, Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University, Nagoya 464-8602, Japan.
6 Group of Molecular Neurobiology, Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University, Nagoya 464-8602, Japan.; Institute for Advanced Research, Nagoya University, Nagoya 464-8602, Japan.; CREST, Japan Science and Technology Agency, Japan.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Ikue Mori , E-mail: m46920a{at}nucc.cc.nagoya-u.ac.jp

{dagger}These authors contributed equally to this work.

Temperature is an unavoidable environmental cue that affects metabolism and behavior of any creature on earth, yet how animals perceive temperature is poorly understood. The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans memorizes temperatures, and this stored information modifies subsequent migration in temperature gradient. We show that the olfactory neuron designated AWC senses temperature. Ca2+ imaging revealed that AWC responds to temperature changes and that response thresholds differ depending on the temperature to which the animal was previously exposed. In the mutant with impairment of a heteromeric guanine nucleotide-binding protein (G protein) mediated signaling, AWC was hyperresponsive to temperature, whereas the AIY interneuron postsynaptic to AWC was hyporesponsive to temperature. Thus, temperature sensation exhibits a robust influence on a neural circuit controlling a memory-regulated behavior.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
An olfactory neuron responds stochastically to temperature and modulates Caenorhabditis elegans thermotactic behavior.
D. Biron, S. Wasserman, J. H. Thomas, A. D. T. Samuel, and P. Sengupta (2008)
PNAS 105, 11002-11007
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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)