Development of olfactory neurons in C. elegans

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Lay Summary Animals recognize and respond to many different volatile chemicals in their environment using specialized nerve cells called olfactory neurons. We are interested in understanding how the specific functional properties of individual olfactory neurons are defined during development. We are exploring this issue in the model genetic organism, the small soil nematode C. elegans. C. elegans responds to and discriminates among thousands of environmental chemicals using a small set of olfactory neurons including the AWA, AWB and AWC neurons. We propose to investigate how the functions of the AWB neurons are defined developmentally. In previous work, we identified three genes that play important roles during AWB development. In animals mutant for the kin-29 protein kinase gene, the AWB neurons fail to correctly express a subset of olfactory receptor proteins. In sns-11 mutants, the AWB neurons do not exhibit any AWB-specific functional or morphological properties, while in sns-9 mutant animals, additional AWB-like neurons are observed. We will utilize genetic, molecular and biochemical techniques to further investigate the roles of these three genes in AWB neuron development. We expect that our findings will not only yield insights into the mechanisms by which functional diversity is achieved among olfactory neurons, but also provide information regarding the basic principles underlying neuronal development.