Forward locomotion of the nematode C. elegans is achieved through modulation of a single gait
Forward locomotion of the nematode C. elegans is achieved through modulation of a single gait
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DOI：
10.2976/1.3082260
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发表时间：
2009-06-01
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影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
Cohen, Netta
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文献类型：
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作者：
Berri, Stefano;Boyle, Jordan H.;Cohen, Netta
动物在环境中移动的能力，关键取决于其主动的内源性控制和与环境相互作用的物理学之间的相互作用。秀丽隐杆线虫是研究神经控制和生物力学各自作用及其相互作用的理想模型系统。由于只有302个神经元在一个硬连线的神经回路中，蠕虫的明显解剖简单掩盖了其行为的复杂性。的确，C.摘要秀丽线虫具有丰富的复杂行为，其中大部分是由其适应性波动运动介导的。传统观点认为，两个运动学上不同的C。秀丽线虫的运动行为--在液体中游泳和在致密的凝胶状介质上爬行--对应于不同的运动步态。在这里，我们通过一系列不同的媒体分析蠕虫的运动，并揭示了从游泳到爬行的平稳过渡，其标志是关键运动指标之间的线性关系。这些结果指向一个单一的运动步态，由相同的基本控制机制。我们进一步表明，环境的力量只发挥了很小的作用，在确定蠕虫的形状，放置条件的最小模式的内部力量驱动运动。[DOI：10.2976/1.3082260]
The ability of an animal to locomote through its environment depends crucially on the interplay between its active endogenous control and the physics of its interactions with the environment. The nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans serves as an ideal model system for studying the respective roles of neural control and biomechanics, as well as the interaction between them. With only 302 neurons in a hard-wired neural circuit, the worm's apparent anatomical simplicity belies its behavioural complexity. Indeed, C. elegans exhibits a rich repertoire of complex behaviors, the majority of which are mediated by its adaptive undulatory locomotion. The conventional wisdom is that two kinematically distinct C. elegans locomotion behaviors-swimming in liquids and crawling on dense gel-like media-correspond to distinct locomotory gaits. Here we analyze the worm's motion through a series of different media and reveal a smooth transition from swimming to crawling, marked by a linear relationship between key locomotion metrics. These results point to a single locomotory gait, governed by the same underlying control mechanism. We further show that environmental forces play only a small role in determining the shape of the worm, placing conditions on the minimal pattern of internal forces driving locomotion. [DOI: 10.2976/1.3082260]