Two Chemoreceptors Mediate Developmental Effects of Dauer Pheromone in C. Elegans

Overview

Journal Science

Specialty Science

Date 2009 Oct 3

PMID 19797623

Citations 124

Authors

Kyuhyung Kim

Koji Sato

Mayumi Shibuya

Danna M Zeiger

Rebecca A Butcher

Justin R Ragains

Jon Clardy

Kazushige Touhara

Piali Sengupta

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Intraspecific chemical communication is mediated by signals called pheromones. Caenorhabditis elegans secretes a mixture of small molecules (collectively termed dauer pheromone) that regulates entry into the alternate dauer larval stage and also modulates adult behavior via as yet unknown receptors. Here, we identify two heterotrimeric GTP-binding protein (G protein)-coupled receptors (GPCRs) that mediate dauer formation in response to a subset of dauer pheromone components. The SRBC-64 and SRBC-66 GPCRs are members of the large Caenorhabditis-specific SRBC subfamily and are expressed in the ASK chemosensory neurons, which are required for pheromone-induced dauer formation. Expression of both, but not each receptor alone, confers pheromone-mediated effects on heterologous cells. Identification of dauer pheromone receptors will allow a better understanding of the signaling cascades that transduce the context-dependent effects of ecologically important chemical signals.

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