In this resource-building proposal, we follow the map-building tradition of the Caenorhadbitis elegans field, aiming to generate an extensive expression atlas of sensory receptors of the G-protein- coupled receptor family. We predict that such an expression pattern will reveal: (a) patterns of left/right asymmetric gene expression, pointing to functional lateralization of neuron pairs; (b) patterns of sexually dimorphic gene expression, pointing to neurons involved in sexually dimorphic behaviors; (c) temporally controlled patterns of gene expression, pointing to neurons that alter their function over time. The genetic programs that instruct left-right asymmetric, sexually dimorphic and temporally controlled features of the nervous system are poorly understood and we anticipate that our identification of gene expression patterns that display such features will provide powerful entry points into studying how these features are programmed.
To understand how a nervous system develops and functions properly, it is important to develop molecular maps that precisely define unique features of particular components of a nervous system. We propose here to build a map of sensory receptor expression in an invertebrate model system and anticipate that such a map will help us understand how specific, unusual features of a nervous system (e.g. features that differ between different sexes) are genetically programmed.
| Vidal, Berta; Aghayeva, Ulkar; Sun, Haosheng et al. (2018) An atlas of Caenorhabditis elegans chemoreceptor expression. PLoS Biol 16:e2004218 |
