Maria A Lim, Jyothsna Chitturi, Valeriya Laskova, Jun Meng, Daniel Findeis, Anne Wiekenberg, Ben Mulcahy, Linjiao Luo, Yan Li, Yangning Lu, Wesley Hung, Yixin Qu, Chi-Yip Ho, Douglas Holmyard, Ni Ji, Rebecca McWhirter, Aravinthan Dt Samuel, David M Miller, Ralf Schnabel, John A Calarco, Mei Zhen
Neuromodulators shape neural circuit dynamics. Combining electron microscopy, genetics, transcriptome profiling, calcium imaging, and optogenetics, we discovered a peptidergic neuron that modulates C. elegans motor circuit dynamics. The Six/SO-family homeobox transcription factor UNC-39 governs lineage-specific neurogenesis to give rise to a neuron RID. RID bears the anatomic hallmarks of a specialized endocrine neuron: it harbors near-exclusive dense core vesicles that cluster periodically along the axon, and expresses multiple neuropeptides, including the FMRF-amide-related FLP-14...
November 18, 2016: ELife