Receptor-type guanylate cyclase is required for carbon dioxide sensation by Caenorhabditis elegans.
basic_science · Level V
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- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 21173231.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1073/pnas.1017354108 and PMC identifier 3017194.
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Abstract
CO(2) is both a critical regulator of animal physiology and an important sensory cue for many animals for host detection, food location, and mate finding. The free-living soil nematode Caenorhabditis elegans shows CO(2) avoidance behavior, which requires a pair of ciliated sensory neurons, the BAG neurons. Using in vivo calcium imaging, we show that CO(2) specifically activates the BAG neurons and that the CO(2)-sensing function of BAG neurons requires TAX-2/TAX-4 cyclic nucleotide-gated ion channels and the receptor-type guanylate cyclase GCY-9. Our results delineate a molecular pathway for CO(2) sensing and suggest that activation of a receptor-type guanylate cyclase is an evolutionarily conserved mechanism by which animals detect environmental CO(2).
Medical subject headings
- Caenorhabditis elegans
- Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins
- Carbon Dioxide
- Chemotaxis
- Guanylate Cyclase
- Ion Channels
- Neurons
- Receptors, Guanylate Cyclase-Coupled
- Smell