The worm's sense of smell

Melkman, Tali; Sengupta, Piali

doi:10.1016/j.ydbio.2003.07.005

Cited by 23 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 206 publications

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“…Rather than comprehensively discussing all known neuronal specification genes, I will try to carve out a few general principles of neuronal specification, using selected examples. Many aspects of neuron specification in C. elegans have been discussed in several previous reviews to which the reader is referred for more in-depth discussions (Ruvkun, 1997;Melkman and Sengupta, 2004).…”

Section: Overviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Specification of the nervous system

Hobert¹

2005

WormBook

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Nervous systems are characterized by an astounding degree of cellular diversity. The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans has served as a valuable model system to define the genetic programs that serve to generate cellular diversity in the nervous system. This review discusses neuronal diversity in C. elegans and provides an overview of the molecular mechanisms that define and specify neuronal cell types in C. elegans.

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Section: Overviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Specification of the nervous system

Hobert¹

2005

WormBook

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“…To select among these 117 putative GPCR, the most suitable ones for our drug design campaign, we mined the literature and all protein sequence databases to obtain additional information about putative nematode GPCRs. From this search, some important information was collected, especially concerning nematode chemosensory system [19] and neuropeptides GPCRs [20]. For instance, the mechanosensory role described in FMRFamide-like peptides family in several nematodes were particularly interesting [16,21,22,23,24,25,26] and this peptide family is also present in M. incognita [27].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Chemosensory GPCR as a Potential Target to Control the Root-Knot Nematode Meloidogyne incognita Parasitism in Plants

et al. 2019

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Root-knot nematodes (RKN), from the Meloidogyne genus, have a worldwide distribution and cause severe economic damage to many life-sustaining crops. Because of their lack of specificity and danger to the environment, most chemical nematicides have been banned from use. Thus, there is a great need for new and safe compounds to control RKN. Such research involves identifying beforehand the nematode proteins essential to the invasion. Since G protein-coupled receptors GPCRs are the target of a large number of drugs, we have focused our research on the identification of putative nematode GPCRs such as those capable of controlling the movement of the parasite towards (or within) its host. A datamining procedure applied to the genome of Meloidogyne incognita allowed us to identify a GPCR, belonging to the neuropeptide GPCR family that can serve as a target to carry out a virtual screening campaign. We reconstructed a 3D model of this receptor by homology modeling and validated it through extensive molecular dynamics simulations. This model was used for large scale molecular dockings which produced a filtered limited set of putative antagonists for this GPCR. Preliminary experiments using these selected molecules allowed the identification of an active compound, namely C260-2124, from the ChemDiv provider, which can serve as a starting point for further investigations.

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“…odr-7(ky4) mutants fail to respond to any of the odorants normally detected by AWA neurons but their AWC function is intact [19]. It is believed that in odr-7 mutants the AWA neurons are reprogrammed to resemble AWC and mis-express a subset of AWC markers [20]. The odr-7(ky4) strain exhibited a slightly stronger attraction to cyclohexanone than wild type at a dilution of 1∶100 (Figure 2A) although at higher or lower concentrations, the response was similar to or substantially weaker than wild type (Figure 2B).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Behavioural and Genetic Evidence for C. elegans' Ability to Detect Volatile Chemicals Associated with Explosives

et al. 2010

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BackgroundAutomated standoff detection and classification of explosives based on their characteristic vapours would be highly desirable. Biologically derived odorant receptors have potential as the explosive recognition element in novel biosensors. Caenorhabditis elegans' genome contains over 1,000 uncharacterised candidate chemosensory receptors. It was not known whether any of these respond to volatile chemicals derived from or associated with explosives.Methodology/Principal FindingsWe assayed C. elegans for chemotactic responses to chemical vapours of explosives and compounds associated with explosives. C. elegans failed to respond to many of the explosive materials themselves but showed strong chemotaxis with a number of compounds associated with commercial or homemade explosives. Genetic mutant strains were used to identify the likely neuronal location of a putative receptor responding to cyclohexanone, which is a contaminant of some compounded explosives, and to identify the specific transduction pathway involved. Upper limits on the sensitivity of the nematode were calculated. A sensory adaptation protocol was used to estimate the receptive range of the receptor.Conclusions/Significance:The results suggest that C. elegans may be a convenient source of highly sensitive, narrowly tuned receptors to detect a range of explosive-associated volatiles.

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The worm's sense of smell

Cited by 23 publications

References 206 publications

Specification of the nervous system

Specification of the nervous system

A Chemosensory GPCR as a Potential Target to Control the Root-Knot Nematode Meloidogyne incognita Parasitism in Plants

Behavioural and Genetic Evidence for C. elegans' Ability to Detect Volatile Chemicals Associated with Explosives

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