Running hot and cold: behavioral strategies, neural circuits, and the molecular machinery for thermotaxis in C. elegans and Drosophila

Resilience of circuits to environmental challenge

Animals of all kinds evolved to deal with anticipated and unanticipated changes in a variety of features in their environments. Consequently, all environmental perturbations, adaptations, and acclimation involve a myriad of factors that, together, contribute to environmental resilience. New work highlights the importance of neuromodulation in the control of environmental resilience, and illustrates that different components of the nervous system may be differentially resilient to environmental perturbations. Climate change is today pushing animals to deal with previously unanticipated environmental challenges, and therefore understanding the complex biology of adaptation and acclimation to various environmental conditions takes on new urgency.

Vertebrate behavioral thermoregulation: knowledge and future directions

Thermoregulation is critical for survival across species. In animals, the nervous system detects external and internal temperatures, integrates this information with internal states, and ultimately forms a decision on appropriate thermoregulatory actions. Recent work has identified critical molecules and sensory and motor pathways controlling thermoregulation. However, especially with regard to behavioral thermoregulation, many open questions remain. Here, we aim to both summarize the current state of research, the "knowledge," as well as what in our mind is still largely missing, the "future directions." Given the host of circuit entry points that have been discovered, we specifically see that the time is ripe for a neuro-computational perspective on thermoregulation. Such a perspective is largely lacking but is increasingly fueled and made possible by the development of advanced tools and modeling strategies.

A multiscale sensorimotor model of experience-dependent behavior in a minimal organism

To survive in ever-changing environments, living organisms need to continuously combine the ongoing external inputs they receive, representing present conditions, with their dynamical internal state, which includes influences of past experiences. It is still unclear in general, however 1) how this happens at the molecular and cellular levels and 2) how the corresponding molecular and cellular processes are integrated with the behavioral responses of the organism. Here, we address these issues by modeling mathematically a particular behavioral paradigm in a minimal model organism, namely chemotaxis in the nematode C. elegans. Specifically, we use a long-standing collection of elegant experiments on salt chemotaxis in this animal, in which the migration direction varies depending on its previous experience. Our model integrates the molecular, cellular, and organismal levels to reproduce the experimentally observed experience-dependent behavior. The model proposes specific molecular mechanisms for the encoding of current conditions and past experiences in key neurons associated with this response, predicting the behavior of various mutants associated with those molecular circuits.

Sensitivity of amphibian embryos to timing and magnitude of present and future thermal extremes

Ongoing climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme temperature events. Unlike the gradual increase on average environmental temperatures, these short-term and unpredictable temperature extremes impact population dynamics of ectotherms through their effect on individual survival. While previous research has predominantly focused on the survival rate of terrestrial embryos under acute heat stress, less attention has been dedicated to the nonlethal effects of ecologically realistic timing and magnitude of temperature extremes on aquatic embryos. In this study, we investigated the influence of the timing and magnitude of current and projected temperature extremes on embryonic life history traits and hatchling behavior in the alpine newt, Ichthyosaura alpestris. Using a factorial experiment under controlled laboratory conditions, we exposed 3- or 10-day-old embryos to different regimes of extreme temperatures for 3 days. Our results show that exposure to different extreme temperature regimes led to a shortened embryonic development time and an increase in hatchling length, while not significantly affecting embryonic survival. The duration of development was sensitive to the timing of temperature extremes, as early exposure accelerated embryo development. Exposure to temperature extremes during embryonic development heightened the exploratory activity of hatched larvae. We conclude that the timing and magnitude of ecologically realistic temperature extremes during embryogenesis have nonlethal effects on life history and behavioral traits. This suggests that species' vulnerability to climate change might be determined by other ecophysiological traits beyond embryonic thermal tolerance in temperate pond-breeding amphibians.

TRPA5 encodes a thermosensitive ankyrin ion channel receptor in a triatomine insect

As ectotherms, insects need heat-sensitive receptors to monitor environmental temperatures and facilitate thermoregulation. We show that TRPA5, a class of ankyrin transient receptor potential (TRP) channels absent in dipteran genomes, may function as insect heat receptors. In the triatomine bug Rhodnius prolixus (order: Hemiptera), a vector of Chagas disease, the channel RpTRPA5B displays a uniquely high thermosensitivity, with biophysical determinants including a large channel activation enthalpy change (72 kcal/mol), a high temperature coefficient (Q10 = 25), and in vitro temperature-induced currents from 53°C to 68°C (T0.5 = 58.6°C), similar to noxious TRPV receptors in mammals. Monomeric and tetrameric ion channel structure predictions show reliable parallels with fruit fly dTRPA1, with structural uniqueness in ankyrin repeat domains, the channel selectivity filter, and potential TRP functional modulator regions. Overall, the finding of a member of TRPA5 as a temperature-activated receptor illustrates the diversity of insect molecular heat detectors.

Evolutionary conserved peptide and glycoprotein hormone-like neuroendocrine systems in C. elegans

Peptides and protein hormones form the largest group of secreted signals that mediate intercellular communication and are central regulators of physiology and behavior in all animals. Phylogenetic analyses and biochemical identifications of peptide-receptor systems reveal a broad evolutionary conservation of these signaling systems at the molecular level. Substantial progress has been made in recent years on characterizing the physiological and putative ancestral roles of many peptide systems through comparative studies in invertebrate models. Several peptides and protein hormones are not only molecularly conserved but also have conserved roles across animal phyla. Here, we focus on functional insights gained in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans that, with its compact and well-described nervous system, provides a powerful model to dissect neuroendocrine signaling networks involved in the control of physiology and behavior. We summarize recent discoveries on the evolutionary conservation and knowledge on the functions of peptide and protein hormone systems in C. elegans.

Alterations in network robustness upon simultaneous temperature and pH perturbations

Nervous systems have evolved to function consistently in the face of the normal environmental fluctuations experienced by animals. The stomatogastric nervous system (STNS) of the crab, Cancer borealis, produces a motor output that has been studied for its remarkable robustness in response to single global perturbations. Changes in environments, however, are often complex and multifactorial. Therefore, we studied the robustness of the pyloric network in the stomatogastric ganglion (STG) in response to simultaneous perturbations of temperature and pH. We compared the effects of elevated temperatures on the pyloric rhythm at control, acid, or base pHs. In each pH recordings were made at 11°C, and then the temperature was increased until the rhythms became disorganized ("crashed"). Pyloric burst frequencies and phase relationships showed minor differences between pH groups until reaching close to the crash temperatures. However, the temperatures at which the rhythms were disrupted were lower in the two extreme pH conditions. This indicates that one environmental stress can make an animal less resilient to a second stressor.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Resilience to environmental fluctuations is important for all animals. It is common that animals encounter multiple stressful events at the same time, the cumulative impacts of which are largely unknown. This study examines the effects of temperature and pH on the nervous system of crabs that live in the fluctuating environments of the Northern Atlantic Ocean. The ranges of tolerance to one perturbation, temperature, are reduced under the influence of a second, pH.

GCY-20 signaling controls suppression of Caenorhabditis elegans egg laying by moderate cold

Organisms sensing environmental cues and internal states and integrating the sensory information to control fecundity are essential for survival and proliferation. The present study finds that a moderate cold temperature of 11°C reduces egg laying in Caenorhabditis elegans. ASEL and AWC neurons sense the cold via GCY-20 signaling and act antagonistically on egg laying through the ASEL and AWC/AIA/HSN circuits. Upon cold stimulation, ASEL and AWC release glutamate to activate and inhibit AIA interneurons by acting on highly and lowly sensitive ionotropic GLR-2 and GLC-3 receptors, respectively. AIA inhibits HSN motor neuron activity via acetylcholinergic ACR-14 receptor signaling and suppresses egg laying. Thus, ASEL and AWC initiate and reduce the cold suppression of egg laying. ASEL's action on AIA and egg laying dominates AWC's action. The biased opposite actions of these neurons on egg laying provide animals with a precise adaptation of reproductive behavior to environmental temperatures.

The preoptic area and dorsal habenula jointly support homeostatic navigation in larval zebrafish

Animals must maintain physiological processes within an optimal temperature range despite changes in their environment. Through behavioral assays, whole-brain functional imaging, and neural ablations, we show that larval zebrafish, an ectothermic vertebrate, achieves thermoregulation through homeostatic navigation-non-directional and directional movements toward the temperature closest to its physiological setpoint. A brain-wide circuit encompassing several brain regions enables this behavior. We identified the preoptic area of the hypothalamus (PoA) as a key brain structure in triggering non-directional reorientation when thermal conditions are worsening. This result shows an evolutionary conserved role of the PoA as principal thermoregulator of the brain also in ectotherms. We further show that the habenula (Hb)-interpeduncular nucleus (IPN) circuit retains a short-term memory of the sensory history to support the generation of coherent directed movements even in the absence of continuous sensory cues. We finally provide evidence that this circuit may not be exclusive for temperature but may convey a more abstract representation of relative valence of physiologically meaningful stimuli regardless of their specific identity to enable homeostatic navigation.

Molecular and circuit mechanisms underlying avoidance of rapid cooling stimuli in C. elegans

The mechanisms by which animals respond to rapid changes in temperature are largely unknown. Here, we found that polymodal ASH sensory neurons mediate rapid cooling-evoked avoidance behavior within the physiological temperature range in C. elegans. ASH employs multiple parallel circuits that consist of stimulatory circuits (AIZ, RIA, AVA) and disinhibitory circuits (AIB, RIM) to respond to rapid cooling. In the stimulatory circuit, AIZ, which is activated by ASH, releases glutamate to act on both GLR-3 and GLR-6 receptors in RIA neurons to promote reversal, and ASH also directly or indirectly stimulates AVA to promote reversal. In the disinhibitory circuit, AIB is stimulated by ASH through the GLR-1 receptor, releasing glutamate to act on AVR-14 to suppress RIM activity. RIM, an inter/motor neuron, inhibits rapid cooling-evoked reversal, and the loop activities thus equally stimulate reversal. Our findings elucidate the molecular and circuit mechanisms underlying the acute temperature stimuli-evoked avoidance behavior.

Terrestrial amphibians respond to rapidly changing temperatures with individual plasticity of exploratory behaviour

Terrestrial ectotherms react to acute changes in environmental temperatures by adjusting their behaviour. Evaluating the adaptive potential of these behavioural adjustments requires information on their repeatability and plasticity. We examined behavioural response (exploration) to acute temperature change in two amphibian taxa, alpine (Ichthyosaura alpestris) and smooth (Lissotriton vulgaris) newts. These responses were investigated at both population and individual levels under multiple thermal contexts (dimensions), represented by the direction and range of changing temperature and rearing thermal regimes. Population-level analyses showed species-specific, non-additive effects of direction and range of temperature change on acute thermal reaction norms for exploration, but explained only a low amount (7-23%) of total variation in exploration. In contrast, within- and among-individual variation in acute thermal reaction norm parameters explained 42-50% of total variation in the examined trait. Although immediate thermal responses varied among individuals (repeatability = 0.07 to 0.53), they were largely shaped by environmental contexts during repeated trials. We conclude that these amphibians respond to acute temperature change through individual plasticity of behavioural traits. A repeated-measures approach under multiple thermal contexts will be needed to identify the selective and plastic potential of behavioural responses used by juvenile newts and perhaps other ectotherm taxa to cope with rapidly changing environmental temperatures.

Thermosensation and Temperature Preference: From Molecules to Neuronal Circuits in Drosophila

Temperature has a significant effect on all physiological processes of animals. Suitable temperatures promote responsiveness, movement, metabolism, growth, and reproduction in animals, whereas extreme temperatures can cause injury or even death. Thus, thermosensation is important for survival in all animals. However, mechanisms regulating thermosensation remain unexplored, mostly because of the complexity of mammalian neural circuits. The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster achieves a desirable body temperature through ambient temperature fluctuations, sunlight exposure, and behavioral strategies. The availability of extensive genetic tools and resources for studying Drosophila have enabled scientists to unravel the mechanisms underlying their temperature preference. Over the past 20 years, Drosophila has become an ideal model for studying temperature-related genes and circuits. This review provides a comprehensive overview of our current understanding of thermosensation and temperature preference in Drosophila. It encompasses various aspects, such as the mechanisms by which flies sense temperature, the effects of internal and external factors on temperature preference, and the adaptive strategies employed by flies in extreme-temperature environments. Understanding the regulating mechanisms of thermosensation and temperature preference in Drosophila can provide fundamental insights into the underlying molecular and neural mechanisms that control body temperature and temperature-related behavioral changes in other animals.

Conserved autism-associated genes tune social feeding behavior in C. elegans

Animal foraging is an essential and evolutionarily conserved behavior that occurs in social and solitary contexts, but the underlying molecular pathways are not well defined. We discover that conserved autism-associated genes (NRXN1(nrx-1), NLGN3(nlg-1), GRIA1,2,3(glr-1), GRIA2(glr-2), and GLRA2,GABRA3(avr-15)) regulate aggregate feeding in C. elegans, a simple social behavior. NRX-1 functions in chemosensory neurons (ADL and ASH) independently of its postsynaptic partner NLG-1 to regulate social feeding. Glutamate from these neurons is also crucial for aggregate feeding, acting independently of NRX-1 and NLG-1. Compared to solitary counterparts, social animals show faster presynaptic release and more presynaptic release sites in ASH neurons, with only the latter requiring nrx-1. Disruption of these distinct signaling components additively converts behavior from social to solitary. Aggregation induced by circuit activation is also dependent on nrx-1. Collectively, we find that aggregate feeding is tuned by conserved autism-associated genes through complementary synaptic mechanisms, revealing molecular principles driving social feeding.

Principles for coding associative memories in a compact neural network

A major goal in neuroscience is to elucidate the principles by which memories are stored in a neural network. Here, we have systematically studied how four types of associative memories (short- and long-term memories, each as positive and negative associations) are encoded within the compact neural network of Caenorhabditis elegans worms. Interestingly, sensory neurons were primarily involved in coding short-term, but not long-term, memories, and individual sensory neurons could be assigned to coding either the conditioned stimulus or the experience valence (or both). Moreover, when considering the collective activity of the sensory neurons, the specific training experiences could be decoded. Interneurons integrated the modulated sensory inputs and a simple linear combination model identified the experience-specific modulated communication routes. The widely distributed memory suggests that integrated network plasticity, rather than changes to individual neurons, underlies the fine behavioral plasticity. This comprehensive study reveals basic memory-coding principles and highlights the central roles of sensory neurons in memory formation.

Calumenin, a Ca2+ Binding Protein, Is Required for Dauer Formation in Caenorhabditis elegans

Caenorhabditis elegans can adapt and survive in dynamically changing environments by the smart and delicate switching of molecular plasticity. C. elegans dauer diapause is a form of phenotypic and developmental plasticity that induces reversible developmental arrest upon environmental cues. An ER (endoplasmic reticulum)-resident Ca²⁺ binding protein, calumenin has been reported to function in a variety of malignant diseases in vertebrates and in the process of muscle contraction-relaxation. In C. elegans, CALU-1 is known to function in Ca²⁺-regulated behaviors (pharyngeal pumping and defecation) and cuticle formation. The cuticles of dauer larvae are morphologically distinct from those of larvae that develop in favorable conditions. The structure of the dauer cuticle is thicker and more highly reinforced than that of other larval stages to protect dauer larvae from various environmental insults. Since the calu-1(tm1783) mutant exhibited abnormal cuticle structures such as highly deformed annuli and alae, we investigated whether CALU-1 is involved in dauer formation or not. Ascaroside pheromone (ascr#2) and crude daumone were used under starvation conditions to analyze the rate of dauer formation in the calu-1(tm1783) mutant. Surprisingly, the dauer ratio of the calu-1(tm1783) mutant was extremely low compared to that of the wild type. In fact, the calu-1(tm1783) mutants were mostly unable to enter diapause. We also found that calu-1 is expressed in body-wall muscle and AIA interneurons at the dauer stage. Taken together, our results suggest that CALU-1 is required for normal entry into diapause in C. elegans.

Functional imaging and quantification of multineuronal olfactory responses in C. elegans

Many animals perceive odorant molecules by collecting information from ensembles of olfactory neurons, where each neuron uses receptors that are tuned to recognize certain odorant molecules with different binding affinity. Olfactory systems are able, in principle, to detect and discriminate diverse odorants using combinatorial coding strategies. We have combined microfluidics and multineuronal imaging to study the ensemble-level olfactory representations at the sensory periphery of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. The collective activity of C. elegans chemosensory neurons reveals high-dimensional representations of olfactory information across a broad space of odorant molecules. We reveal diverse tuning properties and dose-response curves across chemosensory neurons and across odorants. We describe the unique contribution of each sensory neuron to an ensemble-level code for volatile odorants. We show that a natural stimuli, a set of nematode pheromones, are also encoded by the sensory ensemble. The integrated activity of the C. elegans chemosensory neurons contains sufficient information to robustly encode the intensity and identity of diverse chemical stimuli.

GPCR signaling regulates severe stress-induced organismic death in Caenorhabditis elegans

How an organism dies is a fundamental yet poorly understood question in biology. An organism can die of many causes, including stress-induced phenoptosis, also defined as organismic death that is regulated by its genome-encoded programs. The mechanism of stress-induced phenoptosis is still largely unknown. Here, we show that transient but severe freezing-thaw stress (FTS) in Caenorhabditis elegans induces rapid and robust phenoptosis that is regulated by G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR) signaling. RNAi screens identify the GPCR-encoding fshr-1 in mediating transcriptional responses to FTS. FSHR-1 increases ligand interaction upon FTS and activates a cyclic AMP-PKA cascade leading to a genetic program to promote organismic death under severe stress. FSHR-1/GPCR signaling up-regulates the bZIP-type transcription factor ZIP-10, linking FTS to expression of genes involved in lipid remodeling, proteostasis, and aging. A mathematical model suggests how genes may promote organismic death under severe stress conditions, potentially benefiting growth of the clonal population with individuals less stressed and more reproductively privileged. Our studies reveal the roles of FSHR-1/GPCR-mediated signaling in stress-induced gene expression and phenoptosis in C. elegans, providing empirical new insights into mechanisms of stress-induced phenoptosis with evolutionary implications.

Thermosensation in Caenorhabditis elegans is linked to ubiquitin-dependent protein turnover via insulin and calcineurin signalling

Organismal physiology and survival are influenced by environmental conditions and linked to protein quality control. Proteome integrity is achieved by maintaining an intricate balance between protein folding and degradation. In Caenorhabditis elegans, acute heat stress determines cell non-autonomous regulation of chaperone levels. However, how the perception of environmental changes, including physiological temperature, affects protein degradation remains largely unexplored. Here, we show that loss-of-function of dyf-1 in Caenorhabditis elegans associated with dysfunctional sensory neurons leads to defects in both temperature perception and thermal adaptation of the ubiquitin/proteasome system centered on thermosensory AFD neurons. Impaired perception of moderate temperature changes worsens ubiquitin-dependent proteolysis in intestinal cells. Brain-gut communication regulating protein turnover is mediated by upregulation of the insulin-like peptide INS-5 and inhibition of the calcineurin-regulated forkhead-box transcription factor DAF-16/FOXO. Our data indicate that perception of ambient temperature and its neuronal integration is important for the control of proteome integrity in complex organisms.

Thermotaxic diel vertical migration of the harmful dinoflagellate Cochlodinium (Margalefidinium) polykrikoides: Combined field and laboratory studies

The harmful dinoflagellate Cochlodinium polykrikoides, a species that causes mass mortality of farmed fish, uses diel vertical migration (DVM) as an ecological strategy. In summer 2018, a bloom of C. polykrikoides occurred on the southern coast of Korea when the surface water temperature exceeded 29 °C, as a result of a marine heatwave. To understand the effect of high temperature conditions on the DVM of C. polykrikoides, vertical profiles of environmental variables and the occurrence of the dinoflagellate were investigated through a 48 h field survey. In addition, a thermally stratified environment (6-12 °C difference between the surface and bottom layers) was established in a laboratory study to investigate the effect of temperature difference between water layers on the DVM of C. polykrikoides. In the field, most of the C. polykrikoides population was at a depth of 3-6 m during the day, where the water temperature was significantly lower (p < 0.01; Chi square = 57.98; Kruskal-Wallis test) than in the surface layer (0 m), and only the water temperature at 0 m was not correlated with weighted mean depth of C. polykrikoides, suggesting the usage of DVM to avoid high temperature stress. According to our field and laboratory results, there was a trend of greater DVM velocity by thermotaxis when moving from "unfavorable" water temperature (30 °C hot and 12 °C cold) to "favorable" water temperature for growth (optimal 24 °C) of C. polykrikoides. Our findings suggest that thermotaxic DVM is an important ecological strategy used by C. polykrikoides to optimize environmental conditions for growth through vertical positioning and changing migration velocity.

Comprehensive analysis of locomotion dynamics in the protochordate Ciona intestinalis reveals how neuromodulators flexibly shape its behavioral repertoire

Vertebrate nervous systems can generate a remarkable diversity of behaviors. However, our understanding of how behaviors may have evolved in the chordate lineage is limited by the lack of neuroethological studies leveraging our closest invertebrate relatives. Here, we combine high-throughput video acquisition with pharmacological perturbations of bioamine signaling to systematically reveal the global structure of the motor behavioral repertoire in the Ciona intestinalis larvae. Most of Ciona’s postural variance can be captured by 6 basic shapes, which we term “eigencionas.” Motif analysis of postural time series revealed numerous stereotyped behavioral maneuvers including “startle-like” and “beat-and-glide.” Employing computational modeling of swimming dynamics and spatiotemporal embedding of postural features revealed that behavioral differences are generated at the levels of motor modules and the transitions between, which may in part be modulated by bioamines. Finally, we show that flexible motor module usage gives rise to diverse behaviors in response to different light stimuli.

Vertebrate nervous systems can generate a remarkable diversity of behaviors, but how did these evolve in the chordate lineage? A study of the protochordate Ciona intestinalis reveals novel insights into how a simple chordate brain uses neuromodulators to control its behavioral repertoire.

The neural basis of heat seeking in a human-infective parasitic worm

Soil-transmitted parasitic nematodes infect over one billion people and cause devastating morbidity worldwide. Many of these parasites have infective larvae that locate hosts using thermal cues. Here, we identify the thermosensory neurons of the human threadworm Strongyloides stercoralis and show that they display unique functional adaptations that enable the precise encoding of temperatures up to human body temperature. We demonstrate that experience-dependent thermal plasticity regulates the dynamic range of these neurons while preserving their ability to encode host-relevant temperatures. We describe a novel behavior in which infective larvae spontaneously reverse attraction to heat sources at sub-body temperatures and show that this behavior is mediated by rapid adaptation of the thermosensory neurons. Finally, we identify thermoreceptors that confer parasite-specific sensitivity to body heat. Our results pinpoint the parasite-specific neural adaptations that enable parasitic nematodes to target humans and provide the foundation for drug development to prevent human infection.

Responses of different Drosophila species to temperature changes

Temperature is a critical environmental variable that affects the distribution, survival, and reproduction of most animals. Although temperature receptors have been identified in many animals, how these receptors respond to temperature is still unclear. Here, we describe an automated tracking method for studying the thermotactic behaviors of Drosophila larvae and adults. We build optimal experimental setups to capture behavioral recordings and analyze them using free software, Fiji and TrackMate, which do not require programming knowledge. Then, the adult thermotactic two-choice assay is applied to examine the movement and temperature preferences of nine Drosophila species. The ability or inclination to move varies among these species and at different temperatures. Distinct species prefer various ranges of temperatures. Wild-type D. melanogaster flies avoid the warmer temperature in the warm avoidance assay and the cooler temperature in the cool avoidance assay. Conversely, D. bipectinata and D. yakuba do not avoid warm or cool temperatures in the respective assays, and D. biarmipes and D. mojavensis do not avoid the warm temperature in the warm avoidance assay. These results demonstrate that Drosophila species have different mobilities and temperature preferences, which will benefit further research in exploring molecular mechanisms of temperature responsiveness.

Multiplexing Thermotaxis Behavior Measurement in Caenorhabditis elegans

Thermotaxis behaviors in C. elegans exhibit experience-dependent plasticity of thermal preference memory. This behavior can be assayed either at population level, on linear temperature gradients, or at the individual animal level, by radial isothermal or microfluidic tracking of orientation. These behaviors are low-throughput as well as variable, due to the inherent sensitivity to environmental perturbations. To facilitate reproducible studies, we describe an updated apparatus design that enables simultaneous runs of three thermal preference assays, instead of single-run assays described previously. By enabling parallel runs of control and experimental conditions, this set-up enables more throughput and rigorous assessment of behavioral variability.

Cold shock induces a terminal investment reproductive response in C. elegans

Challenges from environmental stressors have a profound impact on many life-history traits of an organism, including reproductive strategy. Examples across multiple taxa have demonstrated that maternal reproductive investment resulting from stress can improve offspring survival; a form of matricidal provisioning when death appears imminent is known as terminal investment. Here we report a reproductive response in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans upon exposure to acute cold shock at 2 °C, whereby vitellogenic lipid movement from the soma to the germline appears to be massively upregulated at the expense of parental survival. This response is dependent on functional TAX-2; TAX-4 cGMP-gated channels that are part of canonical thermosensory mechanisms in worms and can be prevented in the presence of activated SKN-1/Nrf2, the master stress regulator. Increased maternal provisioning promotes improved embryonic cold shock survival, which is notably suppressed in animals with impaired vitellogenesis. These findings suggest that cold shock in C. elegans triggers terminal investment to promote progeny fitness at the expense of parental survival and may serve as a tractable model for future studies of stress-induced progeny plasticity.

Ketamine induction of physiological functions alterations in Caenorhabditis elegans by chronic and multigenerational exposure and corresponding aquatic environmental risk assessment

Although ketamine (KET) has been widely detected in aquatic environments, the ecotoxicity data in aquatic invertebrates and associated risk remained unclear. This study aimed to investigate the adverse effects on benthos (Caenorhabditis elegans (C.elegans)) posed by KET from chronic (10 days) and multigenerational (four generations) exposure. Such exposure induced dose-dependent alterations on apoptosis, reactive oxygen species (ROS) induction, locomotion activity, feeding rate, chemotaxis, and brood size of nematodes, showing a cumulative damage through generations. KET posed vulva deformations and worm bags of C. elegans with a dosed-dependent increase. As a consequence, the fecundity and viability of worms would be impaired, which could eventually impact aquatic ecosystem equilibrium. Meanwhile, the bioactivation/detoxification process of xenobiotics and longevity regulating pathway induced by KET might be responsible for the physiological function disorders. Accordingly, the risk quotients (RQ) of KET in surface water in China were calculated using the 90% indicator protection concentration (C_0.1) derived from multiple toxicity indicators cumulative analyses. The results would be more objective considering numerous biomarkers changes of one species in comparison with traditional method using no observed effect concentrations (NOEC) of teratogenesis. The risk in surface water in southern China was up to high level (RQ > 1), suggesting long-term monitoring was imperative.

Molecular Tools for Targeted Control of Nerve Cell Electrical Activity. Part II

In modern life sciences, the issue of a specific, exogenously directed manipulation of a cell's biochemistry is a highly topical one. In the case of electrically excitable cells, the aim of the manipulation is to control the cells' electrical activity, with the result being either excitation with subsequent generation of an action potential or inhibition and suppression of the excitatory currents. The techniques of electrical activity stimulation are of particular significance in tackling the most challenging basic problem: figuring out how the nervous system of higher multicellular organisms functions. At this juncture, when neuroscience is gradually abandoning the reductionist approach in favor of the direct investigation of complex neuronal systems, minimally invasive methods for brain tissue stimulation are becoming the basic element in the toolbox of those involved in the field. In this review, we describe three approaches that are based on the delivery of exogenous, genetically encoded molecules sensitive to external stimuli into the nervous tissue. These approaches include optogenetics (overviewed in Part I), as well as chemogenetics and thermogenetics (described here, in Part II), which is significantly different not only in the nature of the stimuli and structure of the appropriate effector proteins, but also in the details of experimental applications. The latter circumstance is an indication that these are rather complementary than competing techniques.

Investigating the molecular mechanisms of learning and memory using Caenorhabditis elegans

Learning is an essential biological process for survival since it facilitates behavioural plasticity in response to environmental changes. This process is mediated by a wide variety of genes, mostly expressed in the nervous system. Many studies have extensively explored the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying learning and memory. This review will focus on the advances gained through the study of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. C. elegans provides an excellent system to study learning because of its genetic tractability, in addition to its invariant, compact nervous system (~300 neurons) that is well-characterised at the structural level. Importantly, despite its compact nature, the nematode nervous system possesses a high level of conservation with mammalian systems. These features allow the study of genes within specific sensory-, inter- and motor neurons, facilitating the interrogation of signalling pathways that mediate learning via defined neural circuits. This review will detail how learning and memory can be studied in C. elegans through behavioural paradigms that target distinct sensory modalities. We will also summarise recent studies describing mechanisms through which key molecular and cellular pathways are proposed to affect associative and non-associative forms of learning.

Five Breakthroughs: A First Approximation of Brain Evolution From Early Bilaterians to Humans

Retracing the evolutionary steps by which human brains evolved can offer insights into the underlying mechanisms of human brain function as well as the phylogenetic origin of various features of human behavior. To this end, this article presents a model for interpreting the physical and behavioral modifications throughout major milestones in human brain evolution. This model introduces the concept of a "breakthrough" as a useful tool for interpreting suites of brain modifications and the various adaptive behaviors these modifications enabled. This offers a unique view into the ordered steps by which human brains evolved and suggests several unique hypotheses on the mechanisms of human brain function.

What Behavioral Abilities Emerged at Key Milestones in Human Brain Evolution? 13 Hypotheses on the 600-Million-Year Phylogenetic History of Human Intelligence

This paper presents 13 hypotheses regarding the specific behavioral abilities that emerged at key milestones during the 600-million-year phylogenetic history from early bilaterians to extant humans. The behavioral, intellectual, and cognitive faculties of humans are complex and varied: we have abilities as diverse as map-based navigation, theory of mind, counterfactual learning, episodic memory, and language. But these faculties, which emerge from the complex human brain, are likely to have evolved from simpler prototypes in the simpler brains of our ancestors. Understanding the order in which behavioral abilities evolved can shed light on how and why our brains evolved. To propose these hypotheses, I review the available data from comparative psychology and evolutionary neuroscience.

DIlp7-Producing Neurons Regulate Insulin-Producing Cells in Drosophila

Cellular Insulin signaling shows a remarkable high molecular and functional conservation. Insulin-producing cells respond directly to nutritional cues in circulation and receive modulatory input from connected neuronal networks. Neuronal control integrates a wide range of variables including dietary change or environmental temperature. Although it is shown that neuronal input is sufficient to regulate Insulin-producing cells, the physiological relevance of this network remains elusive. In Drosophila melanogaster, Insulin-like peptide7-producing neurons are wired with Insulin-producing cells. We found that the former cells regulate the latter to facilitate larval development at high temperatures, and to regulate systemic Insulin signaling in adults feeding on calorie-rich food lacking dietary yeast. Our results demonstrate a role for neuronal innervation of Insulin-producing cells important for fruit flies to survive unfavorable environmental conditions.

A subset of DN1p neurons integrates thermosensory inputs to promote wakefulness via CNMa signaling

Sleep is an essential and evolutionarily conserved behavior that is modulated by many environmental factors. Ambient temperature shifting usually occurs during climatic or seasonal change or travel from high-latitude area to low-latitude area that affects animal physiology. Increasing ambient temperature modulates sleep in both humans and Drosophila. Although several thermosensory molecules and neurons have been identified, the neural mechanisms that integrate temperature sensation into the sleep neural circuit remain poorly understood. Here, we reveal that prolonged increasing of ambient temperature induces a reversible sleep reduction and impaired sleep consolidation in Drosophila via activating the internal thermosensory anterior cells (ACs). ACs form synaptic contacts with a subset of posterior dorsal neuron 1 (DN1p) neurons and release acetylcholine to promote wakefulness. Furthermore, we identify that this subset of DN1ps promotes wakefulness by releasing CNMamide (CNMa) neuropeptides to inhibit the Dh44-positive pars intercerebralis (PI) neurons through CNMa receptors. Our study demonstrates that the AC-DN1p-PI neural circuit is responsible for integrating thermosensory inputs into the sleep neural circuit. Moreover, we identify the CNMa signaling pathway as a newly recognized wakefulness-promoting DN1 pathway.

Caenorhabditis elegans learning in a structured maze is a multisensory behavior

We show that C. elegans nematodes learn to associate food with a combination of proprioceptive cues and information on the structure of their surroundings (maze), perceived through mechanosensation. By using the custom-made Worm-Maze platform, we demonstrate that C. elegans young adults can locate food in T-shaped mazes and, following that experience, learn to reach a specific maze arm. C. elegans learning inside the maze is possible after a single training session, it resembles working memory, and it prevails over conflicting environmental cues. We provide evidence that the observed learning is a food-triggered multisensory behavior, which requires mechanosensory and proprioceptive input, and utilizes cues about the structural features of nematodes' environment and their body actions. The CREB-like transcription factor and dopamine signaling are also involved in maze performance. Lastly, we show that the observed aging-driven decline of C. elegans learning ability in the maze can be reversed by starvation.

Ionotropic Receptor-dependent cool cells control the transition of temperature preference in Drosophila larvae

Temperature sensation guides animals to avoid temperature extremes and to seek their optimal temperatures. The larval stage of Drosophila development has a dramatic effect on temperature preference. While early-stage Drosophila larvae pursue a warm temperature, late-stage larvae seek a significantly lower temperature. Previous studies suggest that this transition depends on multiple rhodopsins at the late larval stage. Here, we show that early-stage larvae, in which dorsal organ cool cells (DOCCs) are functionally blocked, exhibit similar cool preference to that of wild type late-stage larvae. The molecular thermoreceptors in DOCCs are formed by three members of the Ionotropic Receptor (IR) family, IR21a, IR93a, and IR25a. Early-stage larvae of each Ir mutant pursue a cool temperature, similar to that of wild type late-stage larvae. At the late larval stage, DOCCs express decreased IR proteins and exhibit reduced cool responses. Importantly, late-stage larvae that overexpress IR21a, IR93a, and IR25a in DOCCs exhibit similar warm preference to that of wild type early-stage larvae. These data suggest that IR21a, IR93a, and IR25a in DOCCs navigate early-stage larvae to avoid cool temperatures and the reduction of these IR proteins in DOCCs results in animals remaining in cool regions during the late larval stage. Together with previous studies, we conclude that multiple temperature-sensing systems are regulated for the transition of temperature preference in fruit fly larvae.

Animals depend on their temperature-sensing systems to avoid noxious temperature extremes and to seek optimal temperatures to survive, mate, and reproduce. Some animals pursue different optimal temperatures during development. We use fruit flies as a model to investigate how temperature-sensing systems are modulated to guide animals to distinct optimal temperatures during development. While early-stage fruit fly larvae pursue a warm temperature, late-stage larvae seek a lower temperature. Previous studies find that this transition depends on multiple rhodopsin molecules. In this study, we find an additional mechanism that also contributes to this transition. At the early larval stage, a set of cool-sensing cells express a high level of cool responsive molecules, respond strongly to low temperatures, and drive animals to avoid cool regions. At the late larval stage, these cool-sensing cells become less sensitive to low temperatures due to the decreased expression of cool responsive molecules and, thus, animals remain in cool regions. Together with previous studies, we conclude that multiple temperature-sensing systems are regulated for the transition of temperature preference in fruit fly larvae.

Neuronal oscillator robustness to multiple global perturbations

Neuronal activity depends on ion channels and biophysical processes that are strongly and differentially sensitive to physical variables such as temperature and pH. Nonetheless, neuronal oscillators can be surprisingly resilient to perturbations in these variables. We study a three-neuron pacemaker ensemble that drives the pyloric rhythm of the crab, Cancer borealis. These crabs routinely experience a number of global perturbations, including changes in temperature and pH. Although pyloric oscillations are robust to such changes, for sufficiently large deviations the rhythm reversibly breaks down. As temperature increases beyond a tipping point, oscillators transition to silence. Acidic pH deviations also show tipping points, with a reliable transition first to tonic spiking, then to silence. Surprisingly, robustness to perturbations in pH only moderately affects temperature robustness. Consistent with high animal-to-animal variability in biophysical circuit parameters, tipping points in temperature and pH vary across animals. However, the ordering and discrete classes of transitions at critical points are conserved. This implies that qualitative oscillator dynamics are preserved across animals despite high quantitative parameter variability. A universal model of bursting dynamics predicts the existence of these transition types and the order in which they occur.

Coupling between fast and slow oscillator circuits in Cancer borealis is temperature-compensated

Coupled oscillatory circuits are ubiquitous in nervous systems. Given that most biological processes are temperature-sensitive, it is remarkable that the neuronal circuits of poikilothermic animals can maintain coupling across a wide range of temperatures. Within the stomatogastric ganglion (STG) of the crab, Cancer borealis, the fast pyloric rhythm (~1 Hz) and the slow gastric mill rhythm (~0.1 Hz) are precisely coordinated at ~11°C such that there is an integer number of pyloric cycles per gastric mill cycle (integer coupling). Upon increasing temperature from 7°C to 23°C, both oscillators showed similar temperature-dependent increases in cycle frequency, and integer coupling between the circuits was conserved. Thus, although both rhythms show temperature-dependent changes in rhythm frequency, the processes that couple these circuits maintain their coordination over a wide range of temperatures. Such robustness to temperature changes could be part of a toolbox of processes that enables neural circuits to maintain function despite global perturbations.

The Structure and Function of Ionotropic Receptors in Drosophila

Ionotropic receptors (IRs) are a highly divergent subfamily of ionotropic glutamate receptors (iGluR) and are conserved across Protostomia, a major branch of the animal kingdom that encompasses both Ecdysozoa and Lophothrochozoa. They are broadly expressed in peripheral sensory systems, concentrated in sensory dendrites, and function in chemosensation, thermosensation, and hygrosensation. As iGluRs, four IR subunits form a functional ion channel to detect environmental stimuli. Most IR receptors comprise individual stimulus-specific tuning receptors and one or two broadly expressed coreceptors. This review summarizes the discoveries of the structure of IR complexes and the expression and function of each IR, as well as discusses the future direction for IR studies.

Thermoresponsive motor behavior is mediated by ring neuron circuits in the central complex of Drosophila

Insects are ectothermal animals that are constrained in their survival and reproduction by external temperature fluctuations which require either active avoidance of or movement towards a given heat source. In Drosophila, different thermoreceptors and neurons have been identified that mediate temperature sensation to maintain the animal’s thermal preference. However, less is known how thermosensory information is integrated to gate thermoresponsive motor behavior. Here we use transsynaptic tracing together with calcium imaging, electrophysiology and thermogenetic manipulations in freely moving Drosophila exposed to elevated temperature and identify different functions of ellipsoid body ring neurons, R1-R4, in thermoresponsive motor behavior. Our results show that warming of the external surroundings elicits calcium influx specifically in R2-R4 but not in R1, which evokes threshold-dependent neural activity in the outer layer ring neurons. In contrast to R2, R3 and R4d neurons, thermogenetic inactivation of R4m and R1 neurons expressing the temperature-sensitive mutant allele of dynamin, shibire^TS, results in impaired thermoresponsive motor behavior at elevated 31 °C. trans-Tango mediated transsynaptic tracing together with physiological and behavioral analyses indicate that integrated sensory information of warming is registered by neural activity of R4m as input layer of the ellipsoid body ring neuropil and relayed on to R1 output neurons that gate an adaptive motor response. Together these findings imply that segregated activities of central complex ring neurons mediate sensory-motor transformation of external temperature changes and gate thermoresponsive motor behavior in Drosophila.

Temperature Sensation: From Molecular Thermosensors to Neural Circuits and Coding Principles

Temperature is a universal cue and regulates many essential processes ranging from enzymatic reactions to species migration. Due to the profound impact of temperature on physiology and behavior, animals and humans have evolved sophisticated mechanisms to detect temperature changes. Studies from animal models, such as mouse, Drosophila, and C. elegans, have revealed many exciting principles of thermosensation. For example, conserved molecular thermosensors, including thermosensitive channels and receptors, act as the initial detectors of temperature changes across taxa. Additionally, thermosensory neurons and circuits in different species appear to adopt similar logic to transduce and process temperature information. Here, we present the current understanding of thermosensation at the molecular and cellular levels. We also discuss the fundamental coding strategies of thermosensation at the circuit level. A thorough understanding of thermosensation not only provides key insights into sensory biology but also builds a foundation for developing better treatments for various sensory disorders.

Pervasive Effects of Wolbachia on Host Temperature Preference

Heritable symbionts can modify a range of ecologically important host traits, including behavior. About half of all insect species are infected with maternally transmitted Wolbachia, a bacterial endosymbiont known to alter host reproduction, nutrient acquisition, and virus susceptibility. Here, we broadly test the hypothesis that Wolbachia modifies host behavior by assessing the effects of eight different Wolbachia strains on the temperature preference of six Drosophila melanogaster subgroup species. Four of the seven host genotypes infected with A-group Wolbachia strains (wRi in Drosophila simulans, wHa in D. simulans, wSh in Drosophila sechellia, and wTei in Drosophila teissieri) prefer significantly cooler temperatures relative to uninfected genotypes. Contrastingly, when infected with divergent B-group wMau, Drosophila mauritiana prefers a warmer temperature. For most strains, changes to host temperature preference do not alter Wolbachia titer. However, males infected with wSh and wTei tend to experience an increase in titer when shifted to a cooler temperature for 24 h, suggesting that Wolbachia-induced changes to host behavior may promote bacterial replication. Our results indicate that Wolbachia modifications to host temperature preference are likely widespread, which has important implications for insect thermoregulation and physiology. Understanding the fitness consequences of these Wolbachia effects is crucial for predicting evolutionary outcomes of host-symbiont interactions, including how Wolbachia spreads to become common.IMPORTANCE Microbes infect a diversity of species, influencing the performance and fitness of their hosts. Maternally transmitted Wolbachia bacteria infect most insects and other arthropods, making these bacteria some of the most common endosymbionts in nature. Despite their global prevalence, it remains mostly unknown how Wolbachia influence host physiology and behavior to proliferate. We demonstrate pervasive effects of Wolbachia on Drosophila temperature preference. Most hosts infected with A-group Wolbachia prefer cooler temperatures, whereas the one host species infected with divergent B-group Wolbachia prefers warmer temperatures, relative to uninfected genotypes. Changes to host temperature preference generally do not alter Wolbachia abundance in host tissues, but for some A-group strains, adult males have increased Wolbachia titer when shifted to a cooler temperature. This suggests that Wolbachia-induced changes to host behavior may promote bacterial replication. Our results help elucidate the impact of endosymbionts on their hosts amid the global Wolbachia pandemic.

Adaptations, life-history traits and ecological mechanisms of parasites to survive extremes and environmental unpredictability in the face of climate change

Climate change is increasing weather unpredictability, causing more intense, frequent and longer extreme events including droughts, precipitation, and both heat and cold waves. The performance of parasites, and host-parasite interactions, under these unpredictable conditions, are directly influenced by the ability of parasites to cope with extremes and their capacity to adapt to the new conditions. Here, we review some of the structural, behavioural, life history and ecological characteristics of parasitic nematodes that allow them to persist and adapt to extreme and changing environmental conditions. We focus primarily, but not exclusively, on parasitic nematodes in the Arctic, where temperature extremes are pronounced, climate change is happening most rapidly, and changes in host-parasite interactions are already documented. We discuss how life-history traits, phenotypic plasticity, local adaptation and evolutionary history can influence the short and long term response of parasites to new conditions. A detailed understanding of the complex ecological processes involved in the survival of parasites in extreme and changing conditions is a fundamental step to anticipate the impact of climate change in parasite dynamics.

Temperature-dependent growth contributes to long-term cold sensing

Temperature is a key factor in the growth and development of all organisms1,2. Plants have to interpret temperature fluctuations, over hourly to monthly timescales, to align their growth and development with the seasons. Much is known about how plants respond to acute thermal stresses3,4, but the mechanisms that integrate long-term temperature exposure remain unknown. The slow, winter-long upregulation of VERNALIZATION INSENSITIVE 3 (VIN3)5-7, a PHD protein that functions with Polycomb repressive complex 2 to epigenetically silence FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC) during vernalization, is central to plants interpreting winter progression5,6,8-11. Here, by a forward genetic screen, we identify two dominant mutations of the transcription factor NTL8 that constitutively activate VIN3 expression and alter the slow VIN3 cold induction profile. In the wild type, the NTL8 protein accumulates slowly in the cold, and directly upregulates VIN3 transcription. Through combining computational simulation and experimental validation, we show that a major contributor to this slow accumulation is reduced NTL8 dilution due to slow growth at low temperatures. Temperature-dependent growth is thus exploited through protein dilution to provide the long-term thermosensory information for VIN3 upregulation. Indirect mechanisms involving temperature-dependent growth, in addition to direct thermosensing, may be widely relevant in long-term biological sensing of naturally fluctuating temperatures.

Bioelectronics for Millimeter-Sized Model Organisms

Advances in microfabrication technologies and biomaterials have enabled a growing class of electronic devices that can stimulate and record bioelectronic signals. Many of these devices have been developed for humans or vertebrate animals, where miniaturization allows for implantation within the body. There are, however, another class of bioelectronic interfaces that exploit microfabrication and nanoelectronics to record signals from tiny, millimeter-sized organisms. In these cases, rather than implanting a device inside an animal, animals themselves are loaded in large numbers into bioelectronic devices for neural circuit and behavioral interrogation. These scalable interfaces provide platforms to develop new therapeutics as well as better understand basic principles of bioelectronic communication, neuroscience, and behavior. Here we review recent progress in these bioelectronic technologies and describe how they can complement on-chip optical, mechanical, and chemical interrogation methods to achieve high-throughput, multimodal studies of millimeter-sized small animals.

Insect responses to heat: physiological mechanisms, evolution and ecological implications in a warming world

Surviving changing climate conditions is particularly difficult for organisms such as insects that depend on environmental temperature to regulate their physiological functions. Insects are extremely threatened by global warming, since many do not have enough physiological tolerance even to survive continuous exposure to the current maximum temperatures experienced in their habitats. Here, we review literature on the physiological mechanisms that regulate responses to heat and provide heat tolerance in insects: (i) neuronal mechanisms to detect and respond to heat; (ii) metabolic responses to heat; (iii) thermoregulation; (iv) stress responses to tolerate heat; and (v) hormones that coordinate developmental and behavioural responses at warm temperatures. Our review shows that, apart from the stress response mediated by heat shock proteins, the physiological mechanisms of heat tolerance in insects remain poorly studied. Based on life-history theory, we discuss the costs of heat tolerance and the potential evolutionary mechanisms driving insect adaptations to high temperatures. Some insects may deal with ongoing global warming by the joint action of phenotypic plasticity and genetic adaptation. Plastic responses are limited and may not be by themselves enough to withstand ongoing warming trends. Although the evidence is still scarce and deserves further research in different insect taxa, genetic adaptation to high temperatures may result from rapid evolution. Finally, we emphasize the importance of incorporating physiological information for modelling species distributions and ecological interactions under global warming scenarios. This review identifies several open questions to improve our understanding of how insects respond physiologically to heat and the evolutionary and ecological consequences of those responses. Further lines of research are suggested at the species, order and class levels, with experimental and analytical approaches such as artificial selection, quantitative genetics and comparative analyses.

Learning to collaborate: bringing together behavior and quantitative genomics

The genetic basis of complex trait like learning and memory have been well studied over the decades. Through those groundbreaking findings, we now have a better understanding about some of the genes and pathways that are involved in learning and/or memory. However, few of these findings identified the naturally segregating variants that are influencing learning and/or memory within populations. In this special issue honoring the legacy of Troy Zars, we review some of the traditional approaches that have been used to elucidate the genetic basis of learning and/or memory, specifically in fruit flies. We highlight some of his contributions to the field, and specifically describe his vision to bring together behavior and quantitative genomics with the aim of expanding our knowledge of the genetic basis of both learning and memory. Finally, we present some of our recent work in this area using a multiparental population (MPP) as a case study and describe the potential of this approach to advance our understanding of neurogenetics.

Using C. elegans to Study the Effects of Toxins in Sensory Ion Channels In Vivo

Caenorhabditis elegans is a powerful animal model in which transgenesis, behavior, and physiology can be merged to study in vivo the effect of natural and synthetic agonists in sensory ion channels. Worms have polymodal sensory neurons (like the ASH pair) that couple ion channel activation with a robust and easily scorable aversive-like behavior. We expressed the transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) channel from rat (r) in worms' ASH neurons and determined its sensitivity to the tarantula double-knot toxin (DkTx) and the active component of chili peppers (capsaicin). This chapter describes protocols for generating and maintaining transgenic rTRPV1 worms to determine dose-dependent behavior. The goal is to provide an efficient tool to characterize the function of sensory channels (wild type and mutants) in vivo.

Sorting nexin 11 knockout mice exhibit enhanced thermosensing behaviour

Temperature sensing is an important adaptive mechanism for warm-blooded animals such as humans. ThermoTRP ion channels are activated by distinct but overlapping physiological temperatures. Our previous research demonstrated that sorting nexin 11 (SNX11) regulates lysosomal degradation of plasma membrane TRPV3, one of ThermoTRP ion channel proteins. Here, we found that SNX11, a vesicular trafficking protein, modulates mouse behaviour in response to temperature changes. Snx11-knockout mice exhibit a stronger preference for mild temperatures along with enhanced sensitivity to harmful heat. Mechanistically, keratinocytes from Snx11-knockout mice exhibit a larger temperature-gated TRPV3 membrane current and have enhanced thermoTRPV3 expression in the plasma membrane compared to wild-type keratinocytes. Additionally, Snx11-knockout mice show higher endogenous TRPV3 protein levels in skin tissues than wild-type mice do. Therefore, our results indicate that SNX11 may regulate thermal perception via alteration of functional thermoTRPV3 on the plasma membrane of thermally sensitive cells, which is the first link between vesicular trafficking and thermal transduction.

Reversible Thermal Gradient Device to Control Biased Thermotactic Response of C. elegans

C. elegans exhibits a directional migration toward a remembered temperature setpoint (T_s) by activating thermo-sensorimotor neurons. While cryophilic thermotaxis is well reproduced, thermophilic thermotaxis requires very stringent temperature regulations - otherwise, worms exhibit random migration in colder side of T_s. Here, we introduce a thermal stimulus device developed to control worms with different thermotactic behaviors on both colder and warmer sides of the T_s. On a linear gradient, the worm population displayed a Gaussian distribution near T_s but in a skewed shape with a peak shifted to the colder side due to their atactic motion in colder temperature than T_s. By repetitive application of thermal gradient-reversals, we found that their population density became higher near T_s because the speed at which the worms accumulate toward T_s was much faster than that of the dispersion by diffusion to the cold side, resulting in forced aggregation of worms at the desired temperature.

How Caenorhabditis elegans Senses Mechanical Stress, Temperature, and Other Physical Stimuli

Caenorhabditis elegans lives in a complex habitat in which they routinely experience large fluctuations in temperature, and encounter physical obstacles that vary in size and composition. Their habitat is shared by other nematodes, by beneficial and harmful bacteria, and nematode-trapping fungi. Not surprisingly, these nematodes can detect and discriminate among diverse environmental cues, and exhibit sensory-evoked behaviors that are readily quantifiable in the laboratory at high resolution. Their ability to perform these behaviors depends on <100 sensory neurons, and this compact sensory nervous system together with powerful molecular genetic tools has allowed individual neuron types to be linked to specific sensory responses. Here, we describe the sensory neurons and molecules that enable C. elegans to sense and respond to physical stimuli. We focus primarily on the pathways that allow sensation of mechanical and thermal stimuli, and briefly consider this animal’s ability to sense magnetic and electrical fields, light, and relative humidity. As the study of sensory transduction is critically dependent upon the techniques for stimulus delivery, we also include a section on appropriate laboratory methods for such studies. This chapter summarizes current knowledge about the sensitivity and response dynamics of individual classes of C. elegans mechano- and thermosensory neurons from in vivo calcium imaging and whole-cell patch-clamp electrophysiology studies. We also describe the roles of conserved molecules and signaling pathways in mediating the remarkably sensitive responses of these nematodes to mechanical and thermal cues. These studies have shown that the protein partners that form mechanotransduction channels are drawn from multiple superfamilies of ion channel proteins, and that signal transduction pathways responsible for temperature sensing in C. elegans share many features with those responsible for phototransduction in vertebrates.