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Cook et al. 2019

Whole-animal connectomes of both Caeonrhabditis elegans sexes

Steven J. Cook, Travis A. Jarrell, Christopher A. Brittin, Yi Wang, Adam E. Bloniarz, Maksim A. Yakovlev, Ken C. Q. Nguyen, Leo T.-H. Tang, Emily A. Bayer, Janet S. Duerr, Hannes E. Bülow, Oliver Hobert, David H. Hall & Scott W. Emmons
Nature 571, 63–71
Published: 3 July 2019

Datasets

Abstract

  • Presented quantitative connectivity matrices that include end-organ input across the entire animal.
  • Reconstruction of circuity for the male head, including the nerve ring and retrovesicular ganglion, from a new EM series and re-annotated previously generated prints of the hermaphrodite
  • Graph of the hermaphrodite connectome has 460 nodes (302 neurons, 132 muscles and 26 non-muscle end organs)
  • Male graph has 579 nodes (385 neurons, 155 muscles and 39 non-muscle end organs)

Significant updates and corrections to previous data

  • DVB/PVT mixup. The ventral cord processes of these neurons were crossed in MOW. PVT extends to the head, DVB ends mid-body.
  • PVCL and PVCR. In MOW these were switched at N2U ventral cord section 1656.
  • Sublateral motor neurons. MOW contained no data for the sublateral cords anterior or posterior to the nerve ring, and no neuromuscular junctions for these neurons along the body. Synapses were first noted by immunofluorescence, then confirmed by sampling multiple animals (not reconstructed).
  • Lateral nerves were closely examined in multiple animals to assess synapses for the first time (not reconstructed except for short portions)
  • Motor neurons re-assigned as interneurons: RIM, RMF, RMG. nmj's reported in MOW for the adult RMF could not be verified.
  • Interneurons reassigned as motor neurons: SAB, SIA, SIB.
  • Interneuron reasssigned as sensory neuron: DVA.
  • Amphid nerves were found to contain synapses among sensory dendrites and RIP, following first discovery in Pristionchus.
  • Synapses to hypodermis, both chemical and gap junctional, were occasionally reported in MOW but were not systematically scored until now.
  • Extensive gap junctional connectivity of hmc (head mesodermal cell) to muscle was previously noted (MRC notebooks) but never systematically assessed and reported.
  • PDB is considered to be an AS class motor neuron (AS12). It shares all the characteristics of the other members of this class, except the route taken by its commissure differs by going first posteriorly before crossing the body and progressing anteriorly (the reason behind its unique name, J. White, personal communication). In the male it has an extensive dendritic arbor involved in mating circuitry, as does AS11.
  • Muscle arms of the bodywall muscles of the head (#1-8) were traced to their NMJ inputs for the first time.