Receptor-type guanylate cyclase is required for carbon dioxide sensation by Caenorhabditis elegans
CO2 [CO subscript 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 CO2 [CO subscript 2] avoidance behavior, which requires a pair of cilia...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en_US |
| Published: |
National Academy of Sciences (U.S.)
2011
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/64949 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9964-9613 |
| Summary: | CO2 [CO subscript 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 CO2 [CO subscript 2] avoidance behavior, which requires a pair of ciliated sensory neurons, the BAG neurons. Using in vivo calcium imaging, we show that CO2 [CO subscript 2] specifically activates the BAG neurons and that the CO2-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 CO2 [CO subscript 2] sensing and suggest that activation of a receptor-type guanylate cyclase is an evolutionarily conserved mechanism by which animals detect environmental CO2 [CO subscript 2]. |
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