-
[
Neuron,
2012]
Animals use a form of sensory feedback termed proprioception to monitor their body position and modify the motor programs that control movement. In this issue of Neuron, Wen etal. (2012) provide evidence that a subset of motor neurons function as proprioceptors in C.elegans, where B-type motor neurons sense body curvature to control the bending movements that drive forward locomotion.
-
[
Curr Biol,
2013]
In the defecation motor program of Caenorhabditis elegans, a pacemaker rhythm generated by the intestine leads to the activation of motor neurons controlling enteric muscle contraction. A new study demonstrates that this signal is conveyed by a neuropeptide that is released from intestinal cells and acutely depolarizes the motorneurons, acting much like a classical neurotransmitter.
-
[
Curr Biol,
2010]
A screen for axonal cargo mislocalization in Caenorhabditis elegans neurons implicates the cyclin-dependent kinases CDK-5 and PCT-1 and the cyclin CCY-1 in the regulation of the microtubule motor cytoplasmic dynein.
-
[
Nat Neurosci,
2003]
A new study in this issue demonstrates that two GABAergic motor neurons in C. elegans are excitatory at target muscles because GABA activates a ligand-gated cation conductance, which is structurally similar to several other ligand-gated channels.
-
[
Cell Metab,
2013]
All physiological functions decline with age, but which changes are primary and which are secondary is not always clear. Liu et al. (2013), examining functional changes in the muscles and motor neurons of C. elegans, suggest that when it comes to locomotion, it is the nervous system that shows earlier age-related deterioration.
-
[
Cell,
2014]
Li et al. demonstrate that a single interneuron can regulate analog- and digital-like behaviors guided by two different postsynaptic neurons. Releasing a single neurotransmitter onto downstream neurons that express receptors with distinct biophysical properties enables a small set of neurons to direct a range of functional responses.
-
[
Curr Biol,
2015]
A recent study identifies a role for a Toll pathway with likely non-canonical features in the developmental specification of BAG neurons in Caenorhabditis elegans. These neurons function to sense carbon dioxide, which is shown to facilitate avoidance of pathogenic bacteria.
-
[
Dev Cell,
2014]
In this issue of Developmental Cell, Singh and Pohl (2014) report that myosin II cortical flow and the midbody remnant participate in the specification of the C.elegans embryo dorsal-ventral axis.
-
[
Elife,
2015]
A pair of neurons is required for nematodes to be able to navigate using the Earth's magnetic field.
-
[
Neuron,
2004]
Insulin/IGF signaling has emerged as a central regulator of metazoan aging. In C. elegans, insulin-like peptides are expressed predominately in neurons. Alcedo and Kenyon demonstrate that removal of specific gustatory and olfactory neurons result in longer life, suggesting that metazoan longevity is influenced by sensory perception.