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bioRxiv · 10.1101/275693

Co-option of neurotransmitter signaling for inter-organismal communication in C. elegans

Srinivasan, J.·Chute, C. D.·Coyle, V.·Zhang, Y. K.·Rayes, D.·Choi, H. J.·Alkema, M.·Schroeder, F. C.
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Abstract

Biogenic amine neurotransmitters play a central role in metazoan biology, and both their chemical structures and cognate receptors are evolutionarily conserved. Their primary roles are in intra-organismal signaling, whereas biogenic amines are not normally recruited for communication between separate individuals. Here, we show that in C. elegans, a neurotransmitter-sensing G protein-coupled receptor, TYRA-2, is required for avoidance responses to osas#9, an ascaroside pheromone that incorporates the neurotransmitter octopamine. Neuronal ablation, cell-specific genetic rescue, and calcium imaging show that tyra-2 expression in the nociceptive neuron ASH is necessary and sufficient to induce osas#9 avoidance. Ectopic expression in the AWA neuron, which is generally associated with attractive responses, reverses the response to osas#9, resulting in attraction instead of avoidance behavior, confirming that TYRA-2 partakes in sensing osas#9. The TYRA-2/osas#9 signaling system thus represents an inter-organismal communication channel that evolved via co-option of a neurotransmitter and its cognate receptor.

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Srinivasan, J., Chute, C. D., Coyle, V., Zhang, Y. K., Rayes, D., Choi, H. J., Alkema, M., Schroeder, F. C.. 2018-03-03. Co-option of neurotransmitter signaling for inter-organismal communication in C. elegans. https://doi.org/10.1101/275693

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