CAREER: Sensory Map Formation in the Nervous System of C. elegans

感觉系统经常以有序的方式将外部世界的空间信息映射到大脑中。例如，在视觉系统中，视网膜上的细胞接收来自视野中相邻位置的输入，并在大脑的相邻位置建立连接。本项目拟研究秀丽隐杆线虫神经系统中简单地形感测图的形成。该实验室的总体目标是使用遗传和分子方法来理解这一简单图谱的形成，然后将这些知识应用于更复杂的脊椎动物系统。先前的研究已经确定了dig1和mig-10两个基因，它们具有正确形成秀丽隐杆线虫感觉图谱所需的功能。当前项目的具体目标包括在分子水平上研究这些基因，以了解哪些细胞表达它们以及它们如何在感觉地图形成中起作用，并使用遗传方法识别在感觉地图形成中与dig1和mig-10相互作用的其他基因。这个项目的教育目标是教会学生像科学家一样思考和工作。学生们被教导阅读和分析科学文献中的论文。他们学习设计、执行和解释实验，并在全年的每周实验室会议上交流他们的结果；研究生们还会在WPI校园的一系列研讨会上展示他们正在进行的研究。最后，学生们以标准的科学格式写出他们的结果，并在校园或适当的科学会议上口头展示。

Sensory systems often map spatial information from the external world onto the brain in an orderly way. For example, in the visual system, cells in the retina that receive input from adjacent positions in the visual field make connections at adjacent positions in the brain.This project proposes studying the formation of a simple topographic sensory map in the nervous system of the nematode C. elegans. The overall goal of the laboratory is to use genetic and molecular methods to understand the formation of this simple map, and then to apply this knowledge to more complex vertebrate systems. Previous studies haveidentified two genes, dig-1 and mig-10, that have functions required for the correct formation of the C. elegans sensory map. Specific goals of the current project include studying these genes at the molecular level, in order to understand which cells express them and how they function in sensory map formation, and using genetic methods to identify other genesthat interact with dig-1 and mig-10 in sensory map formation. The educational goal of this project is to teach students to think and workas scientists. Students are taught to read and analyze papers from the scientific literature. They learn to design, perform, and interpret experiments, and to communicate their results at weekly lab meetings throughout the year; graduate students also present their ongoing research at a seminar series on the WPI campus. Ultimately, students write up their results in standard scientific format, and present them orally, either on campus or at appropriate scientific meetings.