@article{f8c6ec1aa3ee4f6fbe6538d279f5ce4b,
title = "Direct glia-to-neuron transdifferentiation gives rise to a pair of male-specific neurons that ensure nimble male mating",
abstract = "Sexually dimorphic behaviours require underlying differences in the nervous system between males and females. The extent to which nervous systems are sexually dimorphic and the cellular and molecular mechanisms that regulate these differences are only beginning to be understood. We reveal here a novel mechanism by which male-specific neurons are generated in Caenorhabditis elegans through the direct transdifferentiation of sex-shared glial cells. This glia-to-neuron cell fate switch occurs during male sexual maturation under the cell-autonomous control of the sex-determination pathway. We show that the neurons generated are cholinergic, peptidergic, and ciliated putative proprioceptors which integrate into male-specific circuits for copulation. These neurons ensure coordinated backward movement along the mate{\textquoteright}s body during mating. One step of the mating sequence regulated by these neurons is an alternative readjustment movement performed when intromission becomes difficult to achieve. Our findings reveal programmed transdifferentiation as a developmental mechanism underlying flexibility in innate behaviour.",
author = "Laura Molina-Garc{\'i}a and Carla Lloret-Fern{\'a}ndez and Cook, {Steven J.} and Byunghyuk Kim and Bonnington, {Rachel C.} and Michele Sammut and O{\textquoteright}shea, {Jack M.} and Gilbert, {Sophie P.R.} and Elliott, {David J.} and Hall, {David H.} and Emmons, {Scott W.} and Arantza Barrios and Poole, {Richard J.}",
note = "Funding Information: We thank Mario de Bono and Zoltan Soltesz for kindly sharing custom-made software for ratiometric analysis of Ca2+ imaging in moving animals; Rene Garc{\'i}a for worm cartoons used in Figure 7; Ken Nguyen for help with EM; John G White and Jonathan Hodgkin for their help in transferring archival TEM data from the MRC/LMB to the Hall Lab at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine for long-term curation and study; Shai Shaham for sharing the mir-228prom::gfp strain prior to publication; Mike Boxem, Mar{\'i}a L{\'a}zaro-Pe{\~n}a, Alison Woollard and Cori Bargmann for additional strains and reagents; Sheila Poole for edits on the manuscript; Baris Kuru for aid with behavioural experiments. Additional strains were obtained from the CGC, which is supported NIH grant P40 OD010440. Christopher Brittin was influential in designing and creating www.wormwiring.org. This work was supported by a Newton Fellowship from the Royal Society to LMG (NF160914), a Wellcome Trust PhD studentship to RB, Marie Curie CIG grant 618779 and Wellcome Trust Enhancement Funding (095722/Z/11/A) to RJP, Leverhulme Trust grant RPG-2018–287 to AB, NIH R01 GM066897 grant and the G Harold and Leila Y Mathers Charitable Foundation to SWE, NIH OD 010943 to DHH, NIH T32GM007491 and F32 MH115438 01 to SJC; RJP was supported by a Wellcome Trust Research Career Development Fellowship (095722/Z/11/Z) and is currently a Wellcome Senior Fellow in Basic Biomedical Science (207483/Z/17/Z). AB and RJP are members of COST Action BM1408. Funding Information: We thank Mario de Bono and Zoltan Soltesz for kindly sharing custom-made software for ratiometric analysis of Ca2+ imaging in moving animals; Rene Garc?a for worm cartoons used in Figure 7; Ken Nguyen for help with EM; John G White and Jonathan Hodgkin for their help in transferring archival TEM data from the MRC/LMB to the Hall Lab at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine for long-term curation and study; Shai Shaham for sharing the mir-228prom::gfp strain prior to publication; Mike Boxem, Mar?a L?zaro-Pe?a, Alison Woollard and Cori Bargmann for additional strains and reagents; Sheila Poole for edits on the manuscript; Baris Kuru for aid with behavioural experiments. Additional strains were obtained from the CGC, which is supported NIH grant P40 OD010440. Christopher Brittin was influential in designing and creating www.wormwiring.org. This work was supported by a Newton Fellowship from the Royal Society to LMG (NF160914), a Wellcome Trust PhD studentship to RB, Marie Curie CIG grant 618779 and Wellcome Trust Enhancement Funding (095722/Z/11/A) to RJP, Leverhulme Trust grant RPG-2018?287 to AB, NIH R01 GM066897 grant and the G Harold and Leila Y Mathers Charitable Foundation to SWE, NIH OD 010943 to DHH, NIH T32GM007491 and F32 MH115438 01 to SJC; RJP was supported by a Wellcome Trust Research Career Development Fellowship (095722/Z/11/Z) and is currently a Wellcome Senior Fellow in Basic Biomedical Science (207483/Z/17/Z). AB and RJP are members of COST Action BM1408.Royal Society Newton Fellowship NF160914 Laura Molina-Garcia Wellcome Trust PhD Studentship Rachel C Bonnington National Institutes of Health T32 GM007491 Steven J Cook National Institutes of Health F32 MH115438 Steven J Cook National Institutes of Health OD 010943 David H Hall National Institutes of Health R01 GM066897 Scott W Emmons Mathers Foundation Wellcome Trust Wellcome Trust Wellcome Trust Research Career Development Fellowship 095722/Z/11/Z Enhancement Funding 095722/Z/11/A Senior Research Fellowship 207483/Z/17/Z Scott W Emmons Richard J Poole Richard J Poole Richard J Poole. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} Molina-Garc{\'i}a et al.",
year = "2020",
month = oct,
doi = "10.7554/eLife.48361",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "9",
pages = "1--32",
journal = "eLife",
issn = "2050-084X",
publisher = "eLife Sciences Publications",
}