The Tubulin Repertoire of Caenorhabditis Elegans Sensory Neurons and Its Context-Dependent Role in Process Outgrowth

Authors

Dean Lockhead, Charles River Associates International
Erich M. Schwarz, Cornell University
Robert O'Hagan, Montclair State UniversityFollow
Sebastian Bellotti, Stanford UniversityFollow
Michael Krieg, California Institute of Technology
Maureen M. Barr, Rutgers - The State University of New Jersey, New BrunswickFollow
Alexander R. Dunn
Paul W. Sternberg
Miriam B. Goodman, Columbia UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

11-15-2016

Journal / Book Title

Molecular Biology of the Cell

Abstract

Microtubules contribute to many cellular processes, including transport, signaling, and chromosome separation during cell division. They comprise αβ-Tubulin heterodimers arranged into linear protofilaments and assembled into tubes. Eukaryotes express multiple tubulin isoforms, and there has been a longstanding debate as to whether the isoforms are redundant or perform specialized roles as part of a tubulin code. Here we use the well-characterized touch receptor neurons (TRNs) of Caenorhabditis elegans to investigate this question through genetic dissection of process outgrowth both in vivo and in vitro. With single-cell RNA-seq, we compare transcription profiles for TRNs with those of two other sensory neurons and present evidence that each sensory neuron expresses a distinct palette of tubulin genes. In the TRNs, we analyze process outgrowth and show that four tubulins (tba-1, tba-2, tbb-1, and tbb-2) function partially or fully redundantly, whereas two others (mec-7 and mec-12) perform specialized, context-dependent roles. Our findings support a model in which sensory neurons express overlapping subsets of tubulin genes whose functional redundancy varies among cell types and in vivo and in vitro contexts.

DOI

10.1091/mbc.E16-06-0473

Montclair State University Digital Commons Citation

Lockhead, Dean; Schwarz, Erich M.; O'Hagan, Robert; Bellotti, Sebastian; Krieg, Michael; Barr, Maureen M.; Dunn, Alexander R.; Sternberg, Paul W.; and Goodman, Miriam B., "The Tubulin Repertoire of Caenorhabditis Elegans Sensory Neurons and Its Context-Dependent Role in Process Outgrowth" (2016). Department of Biology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works. 196.
https://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/biology-facpubs/196

Published Citation

Lockhead, D., Schwarz, E. M., O'Hagan, R., Bellotti, S., Krieg, M., Barr, M. M., Dunn, A. R., Sternberg, P. W., & Goodman, M. B. (2016). The tubulin repertoire of C. elegans sensory neurons and its context-dependent role in process outgrowth. Molecular biology of the cell, 27(23), 3717–3728. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1091/mbc.E16-06-0473