A Modular Library of Small Molecule Signals Regulates Social Behaviors in Caenorhabditis elegans
Figure 5
Response to icas#3 in N2 hermaphrodites is mediated by ASK sensory neurons and the downstream AIA interneurons.
(A) Schematic representation of the connectivity of the ASK sensory neuron to other neurons. The primary synaptic output of ASK is the AIA interneuron. (B) Attraction of hermaphrodites to icas#3 is dependent on the ASK sensory neurons and the AIA interneurons. Ablation of the RMG interneuron does not affect attraction of N2 or ncs-1::gfp hermaphrodites to icas#3 (*p<0.01, ***p<0.0001, unpaired Student's t test with Welch's correction). (C) Aggregation of N2 and ASK-ablated hermaphrodites at low worm density (20 worms per plate). ASK-ablated worms do not aggregate in response to icas#3. (D) icas#3 induces G-CaMP fluorescence signals in AIA interneurons. The colored traces represent fluorescence changes in the AIA neurons of individual animals upon exposure to 1 µM icas#3. The black traces represent fluorescent changes of individual animals upon exposure to buffer. The grey shading indicates presence of icas#3, n = 10 animals. (E) Average AIA fluorescence change in animals exposed to either buffer or icas#3 (**p<0.01, unpaired Student's t test with Welch's correction). Error bars indicate standard error of mean (S.E.M).