2007 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Molecular Biological Analysis of Behavioral Control in the Nematode C. elegans
| Project/Area Number |
16207012
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (A)
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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 (00107690)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
KIMURA Kotaro National Institute of Genetics, Structural Biology Center, Assistant Professor (20370116)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2004 – 2007
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| Keywords | C. elegans / behavior / learning / mutant / molecular biology / starvation / food / repellent odorants |
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| Research Abstract |
We obtained the following results in genetic and molecular biological studies on the roles of food, starvation, and repellent odorants in learning behaviors and other functions of the nematode C. elegans. (1) Learning with butanone and food. We discovered that pre-exposure to butanone and food specifically enhances chemotaxis to butanone, and analyzed mutants in this behavior. The behavior required the functions of Bardet-Biedl syndrome genes at the sensory cilia of the AWC-ON neuron, which sense butanone. It also required a specific amino acid residue in the G alpha protein ODR-3, which couples with odorant receptors, suggesting that a protein interacting with G alpha may be involved. (2) Control of growth rates etc. in the intestine. We conducted intragenic analysis of class 1 flr genes, which control growth rates, etc. in the intestine. Class 2 flr genes, which counteract the class 1 genes, also regulated immunity against E. coli. One of these genes, flr-2, encoded a secretory protein of the DAN/Gremlin/Cerberus family that was expressed in neurons. We identified a FLR-2-binding protein ZK20.1, which regulated defecation cycle periods. (3) Analysis of dauer larva regulation. We examined a large amount of data on the synthetic dauer-constitutive phenotypes of known mutations, their suppression by another mutation, and the expression of the dauer-signaling molecule DAF-7 in various mutant backgrounds. (4) Behavioral changes by pre-exposure to repellent odorants. Pre-exposure to nonanone enhanced avoidance of nonanone. This plasticity was independent of the presence of food during pre-exposure and required dopamine, which plays an important role in human behavioral plasticity. (5) Genetic theory on parallel pathways. The genetic theory that derives the order of genes in signaling pathways from epistasis data was expanded to the cases of parallel pathways. The new theory succeeded in explaining a certain enigmatic phenomenon.
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Research Products
(58 results)
