From genes to function: the<i>C.</i><i>elegans</i>genetic toolbox

Boulin, Thomas; Hobert, Oliver

doi:10.1002/wdev.1

Cited by 47 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 142 publications

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“…With sophisticated tools for behavioral quantification in hand, we can ask which neurons are necessary and which sufficient to drive a particular behavior by using the powerful genetic toolkits available for C. elegans and Drosophila [25,26]. Even single neurons and cell types can be targeted, providing a level of circuit dissection simply unavailable in larger organisms.…”

Section: Automated Methods To Quantify Behaviormentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantifying behavior to solve sensorimotor transformations: advances from worms and flies

Calhoun

Murthy

2017

Current Opinion in Neurobiology

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The development of new computational tools has recently opened up the study of natural behaviors at a precision that was previously unachievable. These tools permit a highly quantitative analysis of behavioral dynamics at timescales that are well matched to the timescales of neural activity. Here we examine how combining these methods with established techniques for estimating an animal’s sensory experience presents exciting new opportunities for dissecting the sensorimotor transformations performed by the nervous system. We focus this review primarily on examples from Caenorhabditis elegans and Drosophila melanogaster – for these model systems, computational approaches to characterize behavior, in combination with unparalleled genetic tools for neural activation, silencing, and recording, have already proven instrumental for illuminating underlying neural mechanisms.

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Section: Automated Methods To Quantify Behaviormentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantifying behavior to solve sensorimotor transformations: advances from worms and flies

Calhoun

Murthy

2017

Current Opinion in Neurobiology

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“…The published strains expressing optogenetic proteins may be available directly from researchers, or the CGC, which carries out the collection, maintenance, and distribution of C. elegans strains. Transgenic animals can be generated via conventional procedures with microinjection to gonads or other methods (Boulin and Hobert 2012 ). The online protocols, including the creation of transgenic animals, are available on wormbook (wormbook: http://www.wormbook.org/ ).…”

Section: Transfection Of Optogenetic Genesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optogenetics in Caenorhabditis elegans

Tsukada¹,

Mori²

2015

Optogenetics

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With a compact neural circuit consisting of entirely mapped 302 neurons, Caenorhabditis elegans plays an important role in the development and application of optogenetics. Application of optogenetics in C. elegans accelerates the studies of neural circuits by offering the tools that drastically change experimental designs with increasing accessibility for neural activity. Combination with a different approach, such as electrophysiology, expands the potential of both optogenetics and other approaches by increasing resolution of elucidation. Moreover, the technologies specifi cally developed in combination with optogenetics, such as patterned illumination, provide new tools to interrogate neural functions. In this chapter, we fi rst introduce the reasons to use optogenetics in C. elegans studies, and discuss the technical issues of optogenetics, especially for C. elegans . We then review early and recent milestone works using optogenetics to investigate neural and behavioral mechanisms. Note that, in this chapter, the term 'optogenetics' includes both imaging with fl uorescence probes and neural activity manipulation using opsins.

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“…Transgenic animals can be generated via conventional procedures with microinjection to gonads or other methods (Boulin and Hobert 2012 ). The published strains expressing optogenetic proteins may be available directly from researchers, or the CGC, which carries out the collection, maintenance, and distribution of C. elegans strains.…”

Section: Transfection Of Optogenetic Genesmentioning

confidence: 99%