Chromatin dynamics in C. elegans behavior

University Of California-Davis, Davis CA

Investigators

Abstract

An animal's nervous system endows it with the ability to react to its environment and to learn from its experiences. How specific molecules within cells of the nervous system are changed by an animal's experience is not well understood. A powerful model organism, C. elegans, will be used to study the genetic basis for plasticity of behavior. The central dogma that DNA, the cell's genetic material, makes an intermediate RNA which then makes protein has been expanded recently to include regulation of protein synthesis by RNA. This study will add another layer of regulation to the dogma by showing that RNA can also modify the DNA itself. To test the hypothesis that small RNAs can modify the activity of neurons to change an organism's behavior, C. elegans that lack key RNA or chromatin molecules will be examined. The prediction is that animals lacking the small RNAs or specific DNA binding proteins will not be able to alter their behavior and will be unable to learn from experience. This would indicate that there is feedback through which small RNAs regulate DNA that encodes genes needed for learning and complex behaviors. This work will provide training opportunities for a postdoctoral scholar, a recent graduate and an undergraduate student and will generate valuable data and reagents to share with the scientific community.