Chemosensory Cell Function in the Behavior and Development of Caenorhabditis elegans

  1. C.I. Bargmann*,
  2. J.H. Thomas*,, and
  3. H.R. Horvitz*
  1. *Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139; Department of Genetics, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195

This extract was created in the absence of an abstract.

Excerpt

Chemosensation enables organisms to detect food, predators, potential mates, and other indicators of environmental quality. Organisms ranging in complexity from bacteria to mammals identify chemicals as attractants or repellents and modify their behaviors accordingly (Adler 1975). In bacteria, the identity and regulation of chemosensory receptors has been elegantly elucidated (Koshland 1988; Simon et al. 1989). More recently, chemosensory cAMP receptors in the slime mold Dictyostelium discoideum (Klein et al. 1988) and pheromone receptors in yeast (Burkholder and Hartwell 1985; Hagen et al. 1986) have been identified. Less is known about the molecules and mechanisms of chemosensation in metazoan organisms.

Multicellular animals sense chemicals using specialized cells in the nervous system. In vertebrates, different categories of chemosensory cells are known to recognize different molecules. Some small, water-soluble compounds are sensed by neurons in the taste bud papillae, a variety of volatile odorants are sensed by olfactory neurons, mammalian pheromones are sensed...

| Table of Contents