Genetic and circuit bases of mechanically-induced predator avoidance in Platynereis dumerilii larvae

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Gáspár Jékely
• Subject Area: Developmental Neurobiology ; Sensory and Behavioural Biology
• Term: from 2016 to 2019
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 320832098

Escape from predators has been a major driving force in the evolution of complex nervous systems. Predator avoidance requires complex neuronal circuits to achieve the coordinated control of the whole body. We have limited knowledge of complete neuronal circuits involved in predator avoidance and how these achieve control over an entire organism. We propose to use the powerful genetic and neuroscience model, the marine annelid Platynereis dumerilii, to study the function of mechanosensory circuits mediating predator avoidance. We will study how Platynereis larvae avoid predation by two cnidarian predators, the jellyfish Clytia and Aurelia. We will use an integrative approach combining behaviour, whole-body neuronal connectomics, gene knockouts, calcium imaging, and thermogenetics. Platynereis larvae are small and ideally suited for whole-body imaging and connectomics by serial sectioning electron microscopy. The larvae have stereotypical neuronal circuitry and individual neurons can be identified and manipulated in a targeted manner using genetic tools. The use of experimental organisms with laboratory breeding cultures will enable us to study the circuit bases of an ecologically relevant behaviour in unprecedented detail. Placing whole-body neuronal connectomes and circuit dynamics into the context of interspecific interactions promises a fuller understanding of the neuroethology of marine zooplankton and animal behaviour in general.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: United Kingdom