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Resources » Paper

Wen JYM et al. (1995) International C. elegans Meeting "Olfactory Conditioning in C. elegans."

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    Publication type:
    Meeting_abstract
    WormBase ID:
    WBPaper00022125

    Wen JYM, Negandhi H, Runciman S, Morrison GE, & van der Kooy D (1995). Olfactory Conditioning in C. elegans presented in International C. elegans Meeting. Unpublished information; cite only with author permission.

    The nematode C. elegans as is an ideal system to study the cellular and molecular basis for learning and memory because of its simple genetics and well defined neuroanatomy. We have devised a new associative learning paradigm which uses the ability of C. elegans to track odors. An attractive odor (Diacetyl) is used as the conditioned stimulus (CS) while acetic acid (which is aversive) is used as the unconditioned stimulus (US). Non-food deprived worms are washed onto a fine wire filter and exposed to diacetyl followed by a brief exposure to acetic acid. After six rounds of conditioning, individual worms are tested for their tracking response to a small drop of the CS. A high proportion of naive worms show a tracking response to the CS. However, after conditioning a significant percentage of worms no longer track the CS suggesting that they no longer find it attractive. Several controls have been performed to demonstrate that the failure of conditioned worms to track Diacetyl is due to associative conditioning rather than some non-associative process. CS only and US only controls have no significant effect on the tracking response of worms to the CS when compared to the tracking response of naive worms. In addition, explicitly unpaired and pseudo-random pairings also have no significant effects on their tracking response. Interestingly, the lrn-1 mutant which was previously isolated using a Na+/Cl- + E. coli learning paradigm and has subsequently failed to learn other associative paradigms is also impaired in this task. This suggests that the lrn-1 mutation is necessary for C. elegans to acquire several different associative learning paradigms that cross many CS/US boundaries. Finally, the efficiency of this assay will facilitate the screening of large numbers of mutant worms in order to identify novel genes involved in associative learning.


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