Genetics, Vol 134, 455-464, Copyright © 1993

INVESTIGATIONS

The Caenorhabditis elegans unc-31 Gene Affects Multiple Nervous System-Controlled Functions

L. Avery, C. I. Bargmann and H. R. Horvitz
Current address: Department of Biochemistry, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hines Boulevard, Dallas, Texas 75235-9038.

We have devised a method for selecting Caenorhabditis elegans mutants that execute feeding motions in the absence of food. One mutation isolated in this way is an allele of the gene unc-31, first discovered by S. Brenner in 1974, because of its effects on locomotion. We find that strong unc-31 mutations cause defects in four functions controlled by the nervous system. Mutant worms are lethargic, feed constitutively, are defective in egg-laying and produce dauer larvae that fail to recover. We discuss two extreme models to explain this pleiotropy: either unc-31 affects one or a few neurons that coordinately control several different functions, or it affects many neurons that independently control different functions.

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