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9352291 
Journal Article 
Monoaminergic orchestration of motor programs in a complex C. elegans behavior 
Donnelly, JL; Clark, CM; Leifer, AM; Pirri, JK; Haburcak, M; Francis, MM; Samuel, AD; Alkema, MJ 
2013 
1 
PLoS Biology
ISSN: 1544-9173
EISSN: 1545-7885 
11 
4 
e1001529 
English 
23565061 
has data used in 5469475 Tris(2-chloroethyl) phosphate (TCEP) and tris(2-chloropropyl) phosphate (TCPP) induce locomotor deficits and dopaminergic degeneration in Caenorhabditis elegans
Monoamines provide chemical codes of behavioral states. However, the neural mechanisms of monoaminergic orchestration of behavior are poorly understood. Touch elicits an escape response in Caenorhabditis elegans where the animal moves backward and turns to change its direction of locomotion. We show that the tyramine receptor SER-2 acts through a Gαo pathway to inhibit neurotransmitter release from GABAergic motor neurons that synapse onto ventral body wall muscles. Extrasynaptic activation of SER-2 facilitates ventral body wall muscle contraction, contributing to the tight ventral turn that allows the animal to navigate away from a threatening stimulus. Tyramine temporally coordinates the different phases of the escape response through the synaptic activation of the fast-acting ionotropic receptor, LGC-55, and extrasynaptic activation of the slow-acting metabotropic receptor, SER-2. Our studies show, at the level of single cells, how a sensory input recruits the action of a monoamine to change neural circuit properties and orchestrate a compound motor sequence.