Analysis of the tax-4 gene encoding a cyclic nucleotidegated channel in C.elegans

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The C.elegans tax-4 mutants are abnormal in multiple sensory behaviors : they fail to respond to temperature, watersoluble or volatile chemical attractants. We show that the predicted tax-4 gene product is highly homologous to vertebrate cyclic nucleotide-gated channels. Tax-4 protein expressed in cultured cells functions as a cyclic nucleotide-gated channel. The GFP-tagged functional Tax-4 protein is expressed in thermosensory, gustatory and olfactory neurons mediating all the sensory behaviors affected by the tax-4 mutations. The Tax-4/GFP fusion is partly localized at the sensory endings of these neurons. The results suggest that a cyclic nucleotide-gated channel is required for thermosensation and chemosensation, and that cGMP is an important intracellular messenger in C.elegans sensory transduction.