GRK Roles in C. elegans

Wood, John J.; Ferkey, Denise M.

doi:10.1007/978-1-4939-3798-1_13

Cited by 5 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 109 publications

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“…We therefore analyzed several mutants that had been suggested to affect adaptation in C. elegans worms. These included: odr‐3 , which codes the Gα protein, and eat‐16 , an RGS homolog regulating Gα activity (Roayaie et al , 1998 ; Hajdu‐Cronin et al , 1999 ); grk‐2 , which affects G‐protein signaling in sensory neurons (Wood & Ferkey, 2016 ); osm‐6 , which is responsible for cilia integrity and intraflagellar transport (Larsch et al , 2015 ); arr‐1 , an arrestin homolog (Fukuto et al , 2004 ; preprint: Merritt et al , 2021 ); and tax‐6 , a calcineurin shown to cell‐autonomously mediate adaptation in different sensory neurons (Kuhara et al , 2002 ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A negative feedback loop in the GPCR pathway underlies efficient coding of external stimuli

Ruach

Yellinek

Itskovits

et al. 2022

Molecular Systems Biology

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Efficient navigation based on chemical cues is an essential feature shared by all animals. These cues may be encountered in complex spatiotemporal patterns and with orders of magnitude varying intensities. Nevertheless, sensory neurons accurately extract the relevant information from such perplexing signals. Here, we show how a single sensory neuron in Caenorhabditis elegans animals can cell‐autonomously encode complex stimulus patterns composed of instantaneous sharp changes and of slowly changing continuous gradients. This encoding relies on a simple negative feedback in the G‐protein‐coupled receptor (GPCR) signaling pathway in which TAX‐6/Calcineurin plays a key role in mediating the feedback inhibition. This negative feedback supports several important coding features that underlie an efficient navigation strategy, including exact adaptation and adaptation to the magnitude of the gradient's first derivative. A simple mathematical model explains the fine neural dynamics of both wild‐type and tax‐6 mutant animals, further highlighting how the calcium‐dependent activity of TAX‐6/Calcineurin dictates GPCR inhibition and response dynamics. As GPCRs are ubiquitously expressed in all sensory neurons, this mechanism may be a general solution for efficient cell‐autonomous coding of external stimuli.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A negative feedback loop in the GPCR pathway underlies efficient coding of external stimuli

Ruach

Yellinek

Itskovits

et al. 2022

Molecular Systems Biology

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“…Gene duplication has frequently been hypothesized to play an important role in adaptation to the environment (reviewed in Kondrashov, 2012 ). In Caenorhabditis elegans , the DOP-3 protein is well known to modulate chemosensory functions, such as mating and foraging, and to be involved in locomotion (Chase et al, 2004 ; Wood and Ferkey, 2016 ). The other SNP that introduces a non-synonymous mutation and was highlighted by two genome scan methods, namely, TP380188, was located in the gene SMAD-4 (mothers against decapentaplegic homolog 4) and was retrieved in only a few populations from Minnesota, North Dakota, and Ontario.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genome Scans Reveal Homogenization and Local Adaptations in Populations of the Soybean Cyst Nematode

et al. 2018

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Determining the adaptive potential of alien invasive species in a new environment is a key concern for risk assessment. As climate change is affecting local climatic conditions, widespread modifications in species distribution are expected. Therefore, the genetic mechanisms underlying local adaptations must be understood in order to predict future species distribution. The soybean cyst nematode (SCN), Heterodera glycines Ichinohe, is a major pathogen of soybean that was accidentally introduced in most soybean-producing countries. In this study, we explored patterns of genetic exchange between North American populations of SCN and the effect of isolation by geographical distance. Genotyping-by-sequencing was used to sequence and compare 64 SCN populations from the United States and Canada. At large scale, only a weak correlation was found between genetic distance (Wright's fixation index, FST) and geographic distance, but local effects were strong in recently infested states. Our results also showed a high level of genetic differentiation within some populations, allowing them to adapt to new environments and become established in new soybean-producing areas. Bayesian genome scan methods identified 15 loci under selection for climatic or geographic co-variables. Among these loci, two non-synonymous mutations were detected in SMAD-4 (mothers against decapentaplegic homolog 4) and DOP-3 (dopamine receptor 3). High-impact variants linked to these loci by genetic hitchhiking were also highlighted as putatively involved in local adaptation of SCN populations to new environments. Overall, it appears that strong selective pressure by resistant cultivars is causing a large scale homogenization with virulent populations.

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Arrestin-mediated desensitization enables intraneuronal olfactory discrimination in Caenorhabditis elegans

Merritt

MacKay-Clackett

Smt

et al. 2022

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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In the mammalian olfactory system, cross-talk between olfactory signals is minimized through physical isolation: individual neurons express one or few olfactory receptors among those encoded in the genome. Physical isolation allows for segregation of stimuli during signal transduction; however, in the nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans , ∼1,300 olfactory receptors are primarily expressed in only 32 neurons, precluding this strategy. Here, we report genetic and behavioral evidence that β-arrestin–mediated desensitization of olfactory receptors, working downstream of the kinase GRK-1, enables discrimination between intraneuronal olfactory stimuli. Our findings suggest that C. elegans exploits β-arrestin desensitization to maximize responsiveness to novel odors, allowing for behaviorally appropriate responses to olfactory stimuli despite the large number of olfactory receptors signaling in single cells. This represents a fundamentally different solution to the problem of olfactory discrimination than that which evolved in mammals, allowing for economical use of a limited number of sensory neurons.

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GRK Roles in C. elegans

Cited by 5 publications

References 109 publications

A negative feedback loop in the GPCR pathway underlies efficient coding of external stimuli

A negative feedback loop in the GPCR pathway underlies efficient coding of external stimuli

Genome Scans Reveal Homogenization and Local Adaptations in Populations of the Soybean Cyst Nematode

Arrestin-mediated desensitization enables intraneuronal olfactory discrimination in Caenorhabditis elegans

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