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The extraordinary AFD thermosensor of C. elegans

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Abstract

The nematode C. elegans exhibits complex thermal experience-dependent navigation behaviors in response to environmental temperature changes of as little as 0.01°C over a > 10°C temperature range. The remarkable thermosensory abilities of this animal are mediated primarily via the single pair of AFD sensory neurons in its head. In this review, we describe the contributions of AFD to thermosensory behaviors and temperature-dependent regulation of organismal physiology. We also discuss the mechanisms that enable this neuron type to adapt to recent temperature experience and to exhibit extraordinary thermosensitivity over a wide dynamic range.

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Acknowledgements

Related work in the authors’ labs is supported in part by the NIH (R35 GM22463 and P01 GM103770—P.S., and R01 NS047715—M.B.G.) and funding from the Mathers Foundation (M.B.G.).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA

    Miriam B. Goodman

  2. Department of Biology and National Center for Behavioral Genomics, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA, 02454, USA

    Piali Sengupta

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  1. Miriam B. Goodman
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  2. Piali Sengupta
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Correspondence to Miriam B. Goodman or Piali Sengupta.

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This article is part of the special issue on Thermal biology in Pflügers Archiv – European Journal of Physiology

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Goodman, M.B., Sengupta, P. The extraordinary AFD thermosensor of C. elegans . Pflugers Arch - Eur J Physiol 470, 839–849 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00424-017-2089-5

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