Parallel Mechanosensory Systems are Required for Negative Gravitaxis in C. elegans
Ackley, C. R.; Ziaei Kajbaf, N.; Washiashi, L.; Krishnamurthy, R.; Joshi, P.; Rothman, J. H.
Show abstract
The ability to sense Earths gravitational pull is essential for orientation, navigation, and proprioception in many organisms. We report here that C. elegans exhibits pronounced negative gravitaxis, or movement away from the Earths center, independent of orientation of the geomagnetic field. This behavior is antagonized by light and electromagnetic fields, suggesting that it is integrated with other sensory inputs. We found that MEC-5/7/12, and TRPA-1, but not MEC-4/10 DEG/ENaC channels or other proteins involved in gentle touch transduction, are essential for negative gravitaxis, suggesting that the sensory system for detecting and responding to gravity is separable from touch sensation. We also found that the PVD neurons but not touch receptor neurons (TRNs) are required for this behavior. These findings implicate an interconnected mechanism for gravity sensation involving an ion channel that is also present in the mammalian vestibular system, suggesting possible homology in gravity sensing across animal phylogeny.
Matching journals
The top 6 journals account for 50% of the predicted probability mass.
Similar papers in this journal
- Functionally non-redundant paralogs spe-47 and spe-50 encode FB-MO associated proteins and interact with him-8 94%
- A new method of recording from the giant fiber of Drosophila melanogaster shows that the strength of its auditory inputs remains constant with age 94%
- A Familial Alzheimers Disease Associated Mutation in Presenilin-1 Mediates Amyloid-Beta Independent Cell Specific Neurodegeneration 94%
Similar papers in this journal
- O-GlcNAc transferase plays a non-catalytic role in C. elegans male fertility 96%
- Tracking N-and C-termini of C. elegans polycystin-1 reveals their distinct targeting requirements and functions in cilia and extracellular vesicles 95%
- Calcium ions trigger the exposure of phosphatidylserine on the surface of necrotic cells 94%
Similar papers in this journal
- Cold shock induces a terminal investment reproductive response in C. elegans 94%
- A Non-Canonical Raf Function Is Required for Dorsal-Ventral Patterning During Drosophila Embryogenesis 92%
- Interactions between the microbiome and mating influence the female's transcriptional profile in Drosophila melanogaster 92%
Similar papers in this journal
"Similar papers" are the closest papers from that journal in the model's embedding space. They show what the match is built on, but the ranking comes mostly from a classifier over the whole training set, not from these examples alone.