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doi:10.1534/genetics.105.050013
A more recent version of this article appeared on April 1, 2006.
REGULAR RESEARCH PAPERS |
Identification of guanylyl cyclases that function in thermosensory neurons of Caenorhabditis elegans
Hitoshi Inada 1*, Hiroko Ito 2, John Satterlee 3, Piali Sengupta 3, Kunihiro Matsumoto 2 and Ikue Mori 2
1 National Institutes of Natural Science
2 Nagoya University
3 Brandeis University
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: hinada{at}nips.ac.jp.
Submitted on August 26, 2005
Revised on October 4, 2005
Accepted on 9 January 2006
The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans senses temperature primarily via the AFD thermosensory neurons in the head. The response to temperature can be observed as a behavior called thermotaxis on thermal gradients. It has been shown that a cyclic nucleotide-gated ion channel (CNG channel) plays a critical role in thermosensation in AFD. To further identify the thermosensory mechanisms in AFD, we attempted to identify components that function upstream of the CNG channel by a reverse genetic approach. Genetic and behavioral analyses showed that three members of a subfamily of gcy genes (gcy-8, gcy-18 and gcy-23) encoding guanylyl cyclases were essential for thermotaxis in C. elegans. Promoters of each gene drove reporter gene expression exclusively in the AFD neurons and moreover, tagged proteins were localized to the sensory endings of AFD. Single mutations in each gcy gene showed almost normal thermotaxis. However, animals carrying double and triple mutations in these genes showed defective thermotaxis behavior. The abnormal phenotype of the gcy triple mutants was rescued by expression of either one of the three GCY proteins. These results suggest that three guanylyl cyclases function redundantly in the AFD neurons to mediate thermosensation of C. elegans.
Key Words: Caenorhabditis elegans, guanylyl cyclase, reverse genetics, thermosensation, thermotaxis
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