# Neural and genetic mechanisms underlying behavior in C. elegans

> **NIH NIH R35** · UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR · 2021 · $390,002

## Abstract

Project Summary
The long-term goal of our research is to understand how the sensory environment regulates animal behavior.
In the next five years, we propose to investigate the neural and genetic basis of two types of sensory
modalities: thermosensation and chemosensation. Thermosensation and chemosensation are critical for the
quality and survival of all forms of life ranging from bacteria to humans. To survive and thrive, animals and
humans have evolved thermosensory and chemosensory systems to detect, respond, and adapt to
temperature and chemicals in the environment. Defects in thermal and chemical perception lead to
neurological and metabolic disorders. Nevertheless, our understanding of the mechanisms underlying
thermosensation and chemosensation is far from complete. For example, though research in the past two
decades has led to an increasingly clear understanding of how animals sense heat, which reveals a
remarkable conservation in the mechanisms of thermosensation, much less is known about how animals
sense cold temperatures. Similarly, in the case of pH sensation, a type of chemosensation, though acid
sensation has been extensively characterized, we know very little about how animals sense alkali in the
environment. Here, we will investigate the neural and genetic mechanisms underlying cold sensation and
alkaline sensation in C. elegans, a powerful genetic organism widely used for the study sensory perception. To
do so, we will use a multidisciplinary approach combining behavioral, genetic, calcium imaging, and
electrophysiological analyses. As thermosensory and chemosensory mechanisms particularly those involving
sensory channels/receptors tend to be evolutionarily conserved, our work will provide novel insights into the
mechanisms underlying these sensory modalities in mammals and related neurological and metabolic
disorders.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10174947
- **Project number:** 5R35GM126917-04
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR
- **Principal Investigator:** Shawn Xu
- **Activity code:** R35 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $390,002
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-06-01 → 2023-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10174947

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10174947, Neural and genetic mechanisms underlying behavior in C. elegans (5R35GM126917-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10174947. Licensed CC0.

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