Interestingly, for six genes (coro1a, fam57ba, kctd13, kif22, mapk3 and ppp4ca) for which LOF gave a movement or touch response phenotype, an axon tract and/or pigmentation defect was also apparent (Fig. 3), perhaps connecting these phenotypes to the abnormal behavior (An et al., 2002; Haffter et al., 1996; Marmigere and Ernfors, 2007).
To test this, we examined a stimulus-evoked behavior, the harsh touch response.
But few changes were found in the behavioral reaction like touch response, alertness, and restlessness.
We next assessed motor function as a read-out of neural circuitry, by assaying two early behaviors: spontaneous movement at 24 hpf and the touch response at 48 hpf as described in Methods (Liu et al., 2012; Naganawa and Hirata, 2011).
Anterior touch response was tested by gently stroking the eyebrow hair across the body behind the pharynx, and posterior touch response by stroking just forward of the anus.
However, for nose touch response behavior, we observed a reduction in the number of sensory neurons relative to C. elegans, with only the ASH neuron mediating this response in Caenorhabditis sp. 3 as compared with three neurons in C. elegans (ASH, FLP, and OLQ).
But it adds, "We will not accept abusive behavior and illicit touching of female flight attendants".
To address this question, we used a broad, quantitative approach by testing three diverse behaviors mediated by neurons known to express RPM-1: spontaneous exploratory locomotion, evoked harsh touch response, and tap habituation (a simple but critical form of short-term learning).
These larvae continued to show a reduced touch response and also failed to generate a normal acoustic startle response.
They have been shocked and touched by the response.
