ArticleThe Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience2014
Distributed effects of biological sex define sex-typical motor behavior in Caenorhabditis elegans.
Article in The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 38 papers.
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Who cites it
38 citing papers in PubMed.
- A circadian clock gene homolog regulates developmental timing and male mating circuitry iniScience · 2026Article
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- A panoramic view of the expression and function of the Doublesex/DMRT gene family inScience advances · 2026Article
- Sexual dimorphism in the nervous system: Three principles from the nematode C.elegans.Current opinion in neurobiology · 2026Review
- The PVD neuron has male-specific structure and mating function inProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- Specialized structure and function of the apical extracellular matrix at sense organs.Cells & development · 2024Review
- Sex-specific developmental gene expression atlas unveils dimorphic gene networks in C. elegans.Nature communications · 2024Article
- C. elegans males optimize mate-preference decisions via sex-specific responses to multimodal sensory cues.Current biology : CB · 2024Article
- CaMKII mediates sexually dimorphic synaptic transmission at neuromuscular junctions in C. elegans.The Journal of cell biology · 2023Article
- A sex-specific switch in a single glial cell patterns the apical extracellular matrix.Current biology : CB · 2023Article
- The synaptic basis for sexual dimorphism in the invertebrate nervous system.Current opinion in neurobiology · 2023Review
- Article
- Sexually dimorphic architecture and function of a mechanosensory circuit in C. elegans.Nature communications · 2022Article
- Reprogramming the topology of the nociceptive circuit in C. elegans reshapes sexual behavior.Current biology : CB · 2022Article
- Sex-specific, pdfr-1-dependent modulation of pheromone avoidance by food abundance enables flexibility in C. elegans foraging behavior.Current biology : CB · 2021Article
- Article
- Transcription Factors That Control Behavior-Lessons FromFrontiers in neuroscience · 2021Review
- Behavioral Differences between Male and HermaphroditemicroPublication biology · 2021Article
- Sexually Dimorphic Neurotransmitter Release at the Neuromuscular Junction in AdultFrontiers in molecular neuroscience · 2021Article
- Article
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3 authors.
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Abstract
Sex differences in shared behaviors (for example, locomotion and feeding) are a nearly universal feature of animal biology. Though these behaviors may share underlying neural programs, their kinematics can exhibit robust differences between males and females. The neural underpinnings of these differences are poorly understood because of the often-untested assumption that they are determined by sex-specific body morphology. Here, we address this issue in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, which features two sexes with distinct body morphologies but similar locomotor circuitry and body muscle. Quantitative behavioral analysis shows that C. elegans and related nematodes exhibit significant sex differences in the dynamics and geometry of locomotor body waves, such that the male is generally faster. Using a recently proposed model of locomotor wave propagation, we show that sex differences in both body mechanics and the intrinsic dynamics of the motor system can contribute to kinematic differences in distinct mechanical contexts. By genetically sex-reversing the properties of specific tissues and cells, however, we find that sex-specific locomotor frequency in C. elegans is determined primarily by the functional modification of shared sensory neurons. Further, we find that sexual modification of body wall muscle together with the nervous system is required to alter body wave speed. Thus, rather than relying on a single focus of modification, sex differences in motor dynamics require independent modifications to multiple tissue types. Our results suggest shared motor behaviors may be sex-specifically optimized though distributed modifications to several aspects of morphology and physiology.
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