AFD thermosensory neurons mediate tactile-dependent locomotion modulation in C. elegans
Data files
Apr 01, 2026 version files 2.67 MB
-
README.md
2.82 KB
-
Rosero_and_Bai_2026_behavior_adjustment.csv
55.17 KB
-
Rosero_and_Bai_2026_raw_data.csv
2.61 MB
Abstract
Sensory neurons drive animal behaviors by detecting environmental stimuli and relaying information to downstream circuits. Beyond their primary roles in sensing, these neurons often form additional synaptic connections outside their main sensory modality, suggesting broader contributions to behavior modulation. Here, we uncover an unexpected role for the thermosensory neuron AFD in coupling tactile experience to locomotion modulation in Caenorhabditis elegans. We show that while AFD employs cGMP signaling for both thermotaxis and tactile-dependent modulation, the specific molecular components of the cGMP pathway differ between these two processes. Interestingly, disrupting the dendritic sensory apparatus of AFD, which is essential for thermotaxis, does not impair tactile-based locomotion modulation, indicating that AFD can mediate tactile-dependent behavior independently of its thermosensory apparatus. In contrast, ablating the AFD neuron eliminates tactile-dependent modulation, pointing to an essential role for AFD itself, rather than its sensory dendritic endings. Further, we find tactile-dependent modulation requires the AIB interneuron, which connects AFD to touch circuits via electrical synapses. Removing innexins expressed in AFD and AIB abolishes this modulation, while re-establishing AFD-AIB connections with engineered electrical synapses restores it. Collectively, these findings uncover a previously unrecognized function of AFD beyond thermosensation, highlighting its influence on context-dependent neuroplasticity and behavioral modulation through broader circuit connectivity.
Access this dataset on Dryad: https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.k3j9kd5pz
This dataset contains locomotion measurements from individual Caenorhabditis elegans recorded in microfluidic devices designed to provide distinct tactile experiences. Animals were imaged while freely moving in either uniform or binary microfluidic arenas, which differ in their spatial distribution of physical objects. These measurements were used to assess how tactile context modulates locomotion and to determine the contribution of specific genes and circuit mechanisms for this modulation.
Description of the data and file structure
Rosero_and_Bai_2026_raw_data.csv contains locomotion measurements from individual C. elegans recorded in either uniform or binary microfluidic devices, which provide distinct tactile experiences. Each row represents the locomotion measurement of a single worm.
-
Movie: Identifier for the video from which the measurement was obtained.
-
Strain: Strain name indicating the genetic background of the worms measured.
-
Chamber: Type of microfluidic arena; either uniform (Uni) or binary (Bi).
-
Speed: Total distance traveled over time (µm/s).
-
Pause_Ratio: Percentage of time the animal spent not moving.
-
Turn_Frequency, Reversal_Frequency: Number of turns or reversals per second.
-
Track_length: Total distance traveled.
-
Figure: Identifier of the figure generated using the data.
Rosero_and_Bai_2026_behavior_adjustment.csv contains differences in mean locomotion metrics between uniform and binary arenas (uniform − binary). Each row represents the average locomotion of all worms in a single microfluidic arena.
- Movie: Identifier for the video from which the measurement was obtained.
- Strain: Strain name indicating the genetic background of the worms measured.
- Chamber: Type of microfluidic arena; either uniform (Uni) or binary (Bi).
- N: Number of worms measured within the microfluidic arena.
- Feature: Locomotion metric being compared (Speed, Pause ratio, turn frequency, reversal frequency and distance traveled)
- Percent_diff: represents the percent difference between an individual worm’s locomotion in the uniform arena and the mean locomotion of worms in the binary arena, calculated as (uniform − binary mean) / binary mean × 100.
- Figure: Identifier of the figure generated using the data.
Sharing/Access information
If there are issues accessing the datasets you can reach out to the corresponding author Dr. Jihong Bai at jbai@fredhutch.org to find additional ways to download the datasets.