The Inositol Trisphosphate Receptor Regulates a 50-Second Behavioral Rhythm in C. elegans

• Published in: Cell Vol. 98; no. 6; pp. 757 - 767
• Main Authors: Dal Santo, Paola, Logan, Mary A, Chisholm, Andrew D, Jorgensen, Erik M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 17.09.1999
• Subjects: Amino Acid Sequence; Animals; Caenorhabditis elegans; Caenorhabditis elegans - physiology; Calcium Channels - genetics; Calcium Channels - metabolism; Calcium Signaling; Defecation - physiology; Eliminative Behavior, Animal - physiology; Genes, Helminth; Inositol 1,4,5-Trisphosphate Receptors; inositol trisphosphate receptors; Intestines - physiology; Molecular Sequence Data; Mosaicism; Muscle Contraction - physiology; Mutation; Pedigree; Periodicity; Receptors, Cytoplasmic and Nuclear - genetics; Receptors, Cytoplasmic and Nuclear - metabolism; Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
• ISSN: 0092-8674; 1097-4172
• DOI: 10.1016/S0092-8674(00)81510-X

The C. elegans defecation cycle is characterized by the contraction of three distinct sets of muscles every 50 s. Our data indicate that this cycle is regulated by periodic calcium release mediated by the inositol trisphosphate receptor (IP 3 receptor). Mutations in the IP 3 receptor slow down or eliminate the cycle, while overexpression speeds up the cycle. The IP 3 receptor controls these periodic muscle contractions nonautonomously from the intestine. In the intestinal cells, calcium levels oscillate with the same period as the defecation cycle and peak calcium levels immediately precede the first muscle contraction. Mutations in the IP 3 receptor slow or eliminate these calcium oscillations. Thus, the IP 3 receptor is an essential component of the timekeeper for this cycle and represents a novel mechanism for the control of behavioral rhythms.