2003 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
MOLECULAR BIOLOGICAL ANALYSES OF THE BEHAVIORS OF THE NEMATODE C.ELEGANS
| Project/Area Number |
12480212
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
Molecular biology
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| Research Institution | NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF GENETICS |
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Principal Investigator |
KATSURA Isao NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF GENETICS, STRUCTURAL BIOLOGY CENTER, PROFESSOR, 構造遺伝学研究センター, 教授 (00107690)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
KIMURA Kotaro NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF GENETICS, STRUCTURAL BIOLOGY CENTER, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, 構造遺伝学研究センター, 助手 (20370116)
ISHIHARA Takeshi NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF GENETICS, STRUCTURAL BIOLOGY CENTER, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, 構造遺伝学研究センター, 助手 (10249948)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2000 – 2003
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| Keywords | BEHAVIOR / MOLECULAR BIOLOGY / C.ELEGANS / CHEMOTAXIS / DAUER LARVA / LEARNING / MUTANTS / FOOD / STARVATION |
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| Research Abstract |
The genetic basis of behavior was studied by using the nematode C.elegans. (a) Studies on synthetic dauer-constitutive mutants yielded the following results. The Tbx2 transcription factor homologue function's in olfactory adaptation in AWC sensory neurons. The Tyr-phosphatase homologue SDF-13 acts in steroid hormone metabolism in XXXL/R cells whose function had been unknown. The multidrug resistance-associated protein homologue MRP-1 plays a role in the regulation of dauer larva formation in the intestine, pharynx and nervous system, while human MRP1 can substitute for C.elegans MRP-1 in this function. (b) Class 1 flr mutations, which confer abnormality in growth, defecation and sensory functions, and class 2 flr mutations, which suppress some of the class 1 phenotypes were investigated. New class 2 mutations were isolated as suppressors serotonin-sensitivity of class 1 mutations. Class 2 mutants showed shorter longevity. (c) hen-1 mutants, which prefer avoidance of copper ion to chemotaxis to odorants, showed abnormality also in the learning of temperature and starvation. hen-1 gene functions non-cell-autonomously in two pairs of neurons at the adult stage. A deletion mutant in hen-1 showed essentially the same phenotype as the original missense allele ut236. (d) Animals showed increased chemotaxis to butanone after conditioning with food and butanone, and mutants abnormal in this behavior were isolated. One of them, ut305, was also abnormal in adaptation to benzaldehyde and isoamyl alcohol. Th ut305 gene encoded a novel membrane protein and was expressed in many pharyngeal neurons and AIA interneurons. (e) Changes of behavior after prolonged exposure to noxious stimuli were studied. On the basis of these results, it has become clear that many behaviors are regulated by signals of food and starvation through multiple pathways. This is an important clue to the central control mechanism of behavior in C.elegans.
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