TY - JOUR T1 - Neuroendocrine Modulation Sustains the <em>C. elegans</em> Forward Motor State JF - bioRxiv DO - 10.1101/065235 SP - 065235 AU - Maria A. Lim AU - Jyothsna Chitturi AU - Valeriya Laskova AU - Jun Meng AU - Daniel Findeis AU - Anne Wiekenberg AU - Ben Mulcahy AU - Linjiao Luo AU - Yan Li AU - Yangning Lu AU - Wesley Hung AU - Yixin Qu AU - Chi-Yip Ho AU - Douglas Holmyard AU - Ni Ji AU - Rebecca McWhirter AU - Aravinthan D. T. Samuel AU - David M. Miller III AU - Ralf Schnabel AU - John A. Calarco AU - Mei Zhen Y1 - 2016/01/01 UR - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2016/08/17/065235.abstract N2 - Key findingsRID is a specialized peptidergic neuron.The UNC-39/Six/SO transcription factor governs RID neurogenesis.Subtractive RNA profiling identifies FLP, INS and NLP neuropeptides in RID.RID sustains the forward motor state, in part through a neuropeptide FLP-14.Abstract Neuromodulators shape neural circuit dynamics. Combining electron microscopy, genetics, transcriptome profiling, calcium imaging, and optogenetics, we discovered a peptidergic neuron that modulates C. elegans motor circuit dynamics. The Six/SO-family homeobox transcription factor UNC-39 governs lineage-specific neurogenesis to give rise to a neuron RID. RID bears the anatomic hallmarks of a specialized endocrine neuron: it harbors near-exclusive dense core vesicles that cluster periodically along the axon, and expresses multiple neuropeptides, including the FMRF-amide-related FLP-14. RID activity increases during forward movement. Ablating RID reduces the sustainability of forward movement, a phenotype partially recapitulated by removing FLP-14. Optogenetic depolarization of RID prolongs forward movement, an effect reduced in the absence of FLP-14. Together, these results establish the role of a neuroendocrine cell RID in sustaining a specific behavioral state in C. elegans. ER -