ArticlePLoS biology2008
A novel molecular solution for ultraviolet light detection in Caenorhabditis elegans.
Article in PLoS biology, 2008. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 184 papers.
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Who cites it
184 citing papers in PubMed, 318 citations in OpenAlex.
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- Non-visual light modulates behavioral memory and gene expression inbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Phenotypic and metabonomics studies of FMOs in C. elegans and their roles in lifespan extension.Metabolomics : Official journal of the Metabolomic Society · 2025Article
- Blue light stimulated-autofluorescence green flash of lysosome-related organelles in the intestinal cells of nematodes.G3 (Bethesda, Md.) · 2025Article
- High-throughput behavioural phenotyping of 25 C. elegans disease models including patient-specific mutations.BMC biology · 2025Article
- Blue light stimulated-autofluorescence green flash of lysosome-related organelles in the intestinal cells of nematodes.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
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- Neurons and molecules involved in noxious light sensation in Caenorhabditis elegans.G3 (Bethesda, Md.) · 2025Article
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- A structural perspective on insect gustatory receptors.Chemical senses · 2025Review
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- Enhanced whole-brain calcium imaging and cell identification inJournal of biosciences · 2025Article
124 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
For many organisms the ability to transduce light into cellular signals is crucial for survival. Light stimulates DNA repair and metabolism changes in bacteria, avoidance responses in single-cell organisms, attraction responses in plants, and both visual and nonvisual perception in animals. Despite these widely differing responses, in all of nature there are only six known families of proteins that can transduce light. Although the roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans has none of the known light transduction systems, we show here that C. elegans strongly accelerates its locomotion in response to blue or shorter wavelengths of light, with maximal responsiveness to ultraviolet light. Our data suggest that C. elegans uses this light response to escape the lethal doses of sunlight that permeate its habitat. Short-wavelength light drives locomotion by bypassing two critical signals, cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) and diacylglycerol (DAG), that neurons use to shape and control behaviors. C. elegans mutants lacking these signals are paralyzed and unresponsive to harsh physical stimuli in ambient light, but short-wavelength light rapidly rescues their paralysis and restores normal levels of coordinated locomotion. This light response is mediated by LITE-1, a novel ultraviolet light receptor that acts in neurons and is a member of the invertebrate Gustatory receptor (Gr) family. Heterologous expression of the receptor in muscle cells is sufficient to confer light responsiveness on cells that are normally unresponsive to light. Our results reveal a novel molecular solution for ultraviolet light detection and an unusual sensory modality in C. elegans that is unlike any previously described light response in any organism.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.