Running hot and cold: behavioral strategies, neural circuits, and the molecular machinery for thermotaxis in C. elegans and Drosophila

Paul A. Garrity; Miriam B. Goodman; Aravinthan D. Samuel; Piali Sengupta

doi:10.1101/gad.1953710

Running hot and cold: behavioral strategies, neural circuits, and the molecular machinery for thermotaxis in C. elegans and Drosophila

¹Department of Biology, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts 02454, USA;
²National Center for Behavioral Genomics, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts 02454, USA;
³Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA;
⁴Department of Physics and Center for Brain Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA

Abstract

Like other ectotherms, the roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans and the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster rely on behavioral strategies to stabilize their body temperature. Both animals use specialized sensory neurons to detect small changes in temperature, and the activity of these thermosensors governs the neural circuits that control migration and accumulation at preferred temperatures. Despite these similarities, the underlying molecular, neuronal, and computational mechanisms responsible for thermotaxis are distinct in these organisms. Here, we discuss the role of thermosensation in the development and survival of C. elegans and Drosophila, and review the behavioral strategies, neuronal circuits, and molecular networks responsible for thermotaxis behavior.