A single neuron in C. elegans orchestrates multiple motor outputs through parallel modes of transmission
Authors/Creators
- 1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- 2. University of Massachusetts Medical School
Description
Animals generate a wide range of highly coordinated motor outputs, which allows them to execute purposeful behaviors. Individual neurons in the circuits that generate behaviors have a remarkable capacity for flexibility, as they exhibit multiple axonal projections, transmitter systems, and modes of neural activity. How these multi-functional properties of neurons enable the generation of adaptive behaviors remains unknown. Here we show that the HSN neuron in C. elegans evokes multiple motor programs over different timescales to enable a suite of behavioral changes during egg-laying. Using HSN activity perturbations and in vivo calcium imaging, we show that HSN acutely increases egg-laying and locomotion while also biasing the animals towards low-speed dwelling behavior over minutes. The acute effects of HSN on egg-laying and high-speed locomotion are mediated by separate sets of HSN transmitters and different HSN axonal projections. The long-lasting effects on dwelling are mediated by HSN release of serotonin that is taken up and re-released by NSM, another serotonergic neuron class that directly evokes dwelling. Our results show how the multi-functional properties of a single neuron allow it to induce a coordinated suite of behaviors and also reveal that neurons can borrow serotonin from one another to control behavior.
Notes
ImageJ tracking script: Put the .txt file and the .ijm file in the same folder under the "macros" folder in ImageJ/Fiji installation. The .txt file includes settings that can be adjusted for the neuron of interest. the .ijm file is an ImageJ macro
Neuron retracking script: MATLAB code that enables tracking of fluorescence intensity in the same neuron location in different channel. The inputs required are a txt file containing the neuron location (which is the output of the ImageJ tracking script), and Tiff files from the recordings.
For HSN GCaMP dataset: there are 6 file folders: 1) gcamp raw 2) mscarlet raw 3) Ratiometric are in .mat files (MATLAB) ; 4) Eggevetns 5) GcampPeaks and 6) speed are in txt file format
For BAG GCaMP dataset: each folder contains a JPEG file to define fused agar boundary and a gcamp tracking file (a csv with: frame,xcoord,ycoored,intdens,intsub,bgmedian,maxint,area,x,y,sqintdens,sqintsub,sqarea,threshold,animal,redFlag,useTracking)
Funding provided by: National Institutes of Health
Crossref Funder Registry ID: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100000002
Award Number: NS124338
Funding provided by: National Institutes of Health
Crossref Funder Registry ID: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100000002
Award Number: GM135413
Funding provided by: National Science Foundation
Crossref Funder Registry ID: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100000001
Award Number: 1845663
Funding provided by: McKnight Foundation
Crossref Funder Registry ID: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100005270
Award Number:
Funding provided by: Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
Crossref Funder Registry ID: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100000879
Award Number:
Funding provided by: JPB Foundation
Crossref Funder Registry ID: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100007457
Award Number:
Files
BAG_GCaMP_data.zip
Additional details
Related works
- Is derived from
- 10.5281/zenodo.8287371 (DOI)