@article{0130d952622041d5ac1c07ee344b02ca,
title = "Excitatory motor neurons are local oscillators for backward locomotion",
abstract = "Cell- or network-driven oscillators underlie motor rhythmicity. The identity of C. elegans oscillators remains unknown. Through cell ablation, electrophysiology, and calcium imaging, we show: (1) forward and backward locomotion is driven by different oscillators; (2) the cholinergic and excitatory A-class motor neurons exhibit intrinsic and oscillatory activity that is sufficient to drive backward locomotion in the absence of premotor interneurons; (3) the UNC-2 P/Q/N high-voltage-activated calcium current underlies A motor neuron{\textquoteright}s oscillation; (4) descending premotor interneurons AVA, via an evolutionarily conserved, mixed gap junction and chemical synapse configuration, exert state-dependent inhibition and potentiation of A motor neuron{\textquoteright}s intrinsic activity to regulate backward locomotion. Thus, motor neurons themselves derive rhythms, which are dually regulated by the descending interneurons to control the reversal motor state. These and previous findings exemplify compression: essential circuit properties are conserved but executed by fewer numbers and layers of neurons in a small locomotor network.",
author = "Shangbang Gao and Guan, {Sihui Asuka} and Fouad, {Anthony D.} and Jun Meng and Taizo Kawano and Huang, {Yung Chi} and Yi Li and Salvador Alcaire and Wesley Hung and Yangning Lu and Qi, {Yingchuan Billy} and Yishi Jin and Mark Alkema and Christopher Fang-Yen and Mei Zhen",
note = "Funding Information: We thank Y. Wang, A. Liu, S. Teng, and J. R. Mark for technical assistance, the Caenorhabditis Genetics Center and National Bioresource Project for strains, C. Bargmann for the UNC-2 cDNA clone, S. Takayanagi-Kiya for juIs440. We thank Q. Wen, A. Samuel and A. Chisholm for discussions and comments on the manuscript. This work was supported by The National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC 31671052), Wuhan Morning Light Plan of Youth Science and Technology (2017050304010295) and the Junior Thousand Talents Program of China (S Gao), the National Institute of Health (C F-Y, MA, YJ, MZ), and the Canadian Institute of Health Research and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (MZ). Canadian Institutes of Health Research MOP93619 MOP123250 Mei Zhen Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada 262112-12 Mei Zhen National Institutes of Health R01-NS-082525 Mei Zhen National Natural Science Foundation of China 31671052 Shangbang Gao Junior Thousand Talents Program of China 0222170004 Shangbang Gao Wuhan Morning Light Plan of Youth Science and Technology 2017050304010295 Shangbang Gao National Institutes of Health GM084491 Mark Alkema National Institutes of Health R01-NS-035546 Yishi Jin National Institutes of Health R01-NS-084835 Christopher Fang-Yen The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication. Funding Information: We thank Y. Wang, A. Liu, S. Teng, and J. R. Mark for technical assistance, the Caenorhabditis Genetics Center and National Bioresource Project for strains, C. Bargmann for the UNC-2 cDNA clone, S. Takayanagi-Kiya for juIs440. We thank Q. Wen, A. Samuel and A. Chisholm for discussions and comments on the manuscript. This work was supported by The National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC 31671052), Wuhan Morning Light Plan of Youth Science and Technology (2017050304010295) and the Junior Thousand Talents Program of China (S Gao), the National Institute of Health (C F-Y, MA, YJ, MZ), and the Canadian Institute of Health Research and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (MZ). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} Gao et al.",
year = "2018",
month = jan,
day = "23",
doi = "10.7554/eLife.29915",
language = "English",
volume = "7",
journal = "eLife",
issn = "2050-084X",
publisher = "eLife Sciences Publications",
}