Synaptic code for sensory modalities revealed by C. elegans GLR-1 glutamate receptor (original) (raw)
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- Published: 02 November 1995
Nature volume 378, pages 82–85 (1995)Cite this article
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Abstract
How does the nervous system encode environmental stimuli as sensory experiences? Both the type (visual, olfactory, gustatory, mechanical or auditory) and the quality of a stimulus (spatial position, intensity or frequency) are represented as a neural code. Here we undertake a genetic analysis of sensory modality coding in Caenorhabditis elegans. The ASH sensory neurons respond to two distinct sensory stimuli (nose touch and osmotic stimuli). A mutation in the glr-1 (glutamate receptor) gene eliminates the response to nose touch but not to osmotic repellents. The predicted GLR-1 protein is roughly 40% identical to mammalian AMPA-class glutamate receptor (GluR) subunits. Analysis of glr-1 expression and genetic mosaics indicates that GLR-1 receptors act in synaptic targets of the ASH neurons. We propose that discrimination between the ASH sensory modalities arises from differential release of ASH neurotransmitters in response to different stimuli.
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Author notes
- Joshua M. Kaplan: To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Authors and Affiliations
- Department of Molecular Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, 50 Blossom Street, Boston, Massachusetts, 02114
Anne C. Hart, Shannon Sims & Joshua M. Kaplan - Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, 02115, USA
Anne C. Hart, Shannon Sims & Joshua M. Kaplan
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- Anne C. Hart
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Hart, A., Sims, S. & Kaplan, J. Synaptic code for sensory modalities revealed by C. elegans GLR-1 glutamate receptor.Nature 378, 82–85 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1038/378082a0
- Received: 12 May 1995
- Accepted: 18 August 1995
- Issue Date: 02 November 1995
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/378082a0