The soil nematode Caenorhabditis elegans using its well-defined network of 302 neurons generates complex behavioural decisions. Chemosensation has a significant impact on decision making, learning and memory of nematodes, informing about possible nutrition and danger. Harmful agents, such as abiotic toxins and pathogens induce a network of evolutionary conserved somatic and neuroendocrine surveillance defences as a continuous cross-talk between neuronal and non-neuronal cells, generating adequate fight-or-flight responses.
In this project, we set out to investigate how these toxicity induced cytoprotective responses influence decision making, and associative cellular – transcriptional – memory formation.
Responsible: Gábor Hajdú