Genetic variants that modify neuroendocrine gene expression and foraging behavior of .

The molecular mechanisms underlying diversity in animal behavior are not well understood. A major experimental challenge is determining the contribution of genetic variants that affect neuronal gene expression to differences in behavioral traits. In , the neuroendocrine transforming growth factor-β ligand, DAF-7, regulates diverse behavioral responses to bacterial food and pathogens.

Genetic Variants That Modify the Neuroendocrine Regulation of Foraging Behavior in .

The molecular mechanisms underlying diversity in animal behavior are not well understood. A major experimental challenge is determining the contribution of genetic variants that affect neuronal gene expression to differences in behavioral traits. The neuroendocrine TGF-beta ligand, DAF-7, regulates diverse behavioral responses of to bacterial food and pathogens.

Regulation of a hitchhiking behavior by neuronal insulin and TGF-β signaling in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans.

Free-living nematode Caenorhabditis elegans exhibits various behaviors to adapt to the fluctuating environment. When early larvae of C. elegans experience the harsh environmental condition, they develop to an alternative developmental stage called dauer, which shows nictation, a stage-specific waving behavior.

Dauer-specific dendrite arborization in C. elegans is regulated by KPC-1/Furin.

Background: Dendrites often display remarkably complex and diverse morphologies that are influenced by developmental and environmental cues. Neuroplasticity in response to adverse environmental conditions entails both hypertrophy and resorption of dendrites. How dendrites rapidly alter morphology in response to unfavorable environmental conditions is unclear.

Nictation, a dispersal behavior of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, is regulated by IL2 neurons.

Many nematodes show a stage-specific behavior called nictation in which a worm stands on its tail and waves its head in three dimensions. Here we show that nictation is a dispersal behavior regulated by a specific set of neurons, the IL2 cells, in C. elegans.