Molecular encoding and synaptic decoding of context during salt chemotaxis in C. elegans

Shingo Hiroki, Hikari Yoshitane, Hinako Mitsui, Hirofumi Sato, Chie Umatani, Shinji Kanda, Yoshitaka Fukada and Yuichi Iino ()
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Shingo Hiroki: The University of Tokyo
Hikari Yoshitane: The University of Tokyo
Hinako Mitsui: The University of Tokyo
Hirofumi Sato: The University of Tokyo
Chie Umatani: The University of Tokyo
Shinji Kanda: The University of Tokyo
Yoshitaka Fukada: The University of Tokyo
Yuichi Iino: The University of Tokyo

Nature Communications, 2022, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-15

Abstract: Abstract Animals navigate toward favorable locations using various environmental cues. However, the mechanism of how the goal information is encoded and decoded to generate migration toward the appropriate direction has not been clarified. Here, we describe the mechanism of migration towards a learned concentration of NaCl in Caenorhabditis elegans. In the salt-sensing neuron ASER, the difference between the experienced and currently perceived NaCl concentration is encoded as phosphorylation at Ser65 of UNC-64/Syntaxin 1 A through the protein kinase C(PKC-1) signaling pathway. The phosphorylation affects basal glutamate transmission from ASER, inducing the reversal of the postsynaptic response of reorientation-initiating neurons (i.e., from inhibitory to excitatory), guiding the animals toward the experienced concentration. This process, the decoding of the context, is achieved through the differential sensitivity of postsynaptic excitatory and inhibitory receptors. Our results reveal the mechanism of migration based on the synaptic plasticity that conceptually differs from the classical ones.

Date: 2022
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-30279-7

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