C. elegans have a simple nervous system with approximately 300 neurons and exhibit well-documented learning-specific behaviors. Several genetic mutations, such as in the casy-1 genes, have been shown to disrupt these learning behaviors in C. elegans. The casy-1 gene encodes a calcium-binding protein that is important for synapse regulation, and has shown deficits in learning behaviors. While casy-1 mutant C. elegans have specifically shown deficits in aversion learning, their attraction learning is not well characterized. Here, we examined the effects of casy-1 mutation on attraction learning in C. elegans. To do so, we have quantified C. elegans locomotor behaviors such as reversal frequency, run length, and pause frequency in wild-type and casy-1 mutant C. elegans in the context of a salt chemotaxis learning assay. This work helps to elucidate the effect of casy-1 on learning behaviors, which is particularly relevant as this gene is an ortholog of mammalian calsyntenins.
This work was supported by funds from the Beta Beta Beta Research Scholarship Foundation Fund.
