RUI: Characterization of Glutamate Receptors in the Pond Snails, Helisoma Trivolvis and Biomphalaria Glabrata

Bates College, Lewiston ME

Investigators

Abstract

Glutamate is a neurotransmitter (a chemical that elicits signals in neurons) that is important for everyday function in both vertebrate and invertebrate animals. In pond snails it controls the pattern of feeding behavior, in which the animals use a tongue-like organ to scrape food from a substrate. The central questions in this project are about how glutamate activates and inhibits certain neurons to cause the muscular movements that define normal feeding behavior. To determine which neurons glutamate affects, the receptor proteins that glutamate binds to will be tagged with markers (antibodies) that can be visualized with fluorescence microscopy. The excitation and inhibition induced by glutamate in these labeled neurons will then be examined, and the relationship of this activity to known patterns activity that drive feeding will be assessed. It is expected that neurons that are labeled with glutamate receptor antibodies will respond to glutamate, and have a role in the control of feeding in these organisms. Understanding the receptors that bind glutamate in this system has two important consequences: 1) these receptors can be compared to those found in vertebrate animals to determine how glutamate receptors have changed (or not) during evolution; 2) the mechanism by which a limited number of neurons and neurotransmitters control a behavior like feeding can be better understood. The work is providing important training opportunities for three undergraduates who will conduct research during the summers, and several other students who will conduct thesis research on these projects during the academic year.