Transfer characteristics of a thermosensory synapse in Caenorhabditis elegans
Abstract
Caenorhabditis elegans is a compact, attractive system for neural circuit analysis. An understanding of the functional dynamics of neural computation requires physiological analyses. We undertook the characterization of transfer at a central synapse in C. elegans by combining optical stimulation of targeted neurons with electrophysiological recordings. We show that the synapse between AFD and AIY, the first stage in the thermotactic circuit, exhibits excitatory, tonic, and graded release. We measured the linear range of the input-output curve and estimate the static synaptic gain as 0.056 (<0.1). Release showed no obvious facilitation or depression. Transmission at this synapse is peptidergic. The AFD/AIY synapse thus seems to have evolved for reliable transmission of a scaled-down temperature signal from AFD, enabling AIY to monitor and integrate temperature with other sensory input. Combining optogenetics with electrophysiology is a powerful way to analyze C. elegans' neural function.
Additional Information
© 2011 National Academy of Sciences. Contributed by Paul W. Sternberg, April 27, 2011 (sent for review February 13, 2011). Published online before print May 23, 2011. We thank Serge Faumont, Thad Lindsay, and Shawn Lockery for their generous aid with the C. elegans preparation and helpful discussions. We thank Vivek Jayaraman, Glenn Turner, and members of the G.L. and P.W.S. laboratories for helpful discussions, the Caenorhabditis Genetics Center for strains, and WormBase. This work was supported by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, with which P.W.S. is an investigator. Author contributions: A.N., G.L., and P.W.S. designed research; A.N. performed research; A.N. analyzed data; and A.N., G.L., and P.W.S. wrote the paper.Attached Files
Published - Narayan2011p14118P_Natl_Acad_Sci_Usa.pdf
Supplemental Material - pnas.201106617SI.pdf
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Additional details
- PMCID
- PMC3111291
- Eprint ID
- 24063
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20110620-134743597
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI)
- Created
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2011-06-21Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
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2021-11-09Created from EPrint's last_modified field