Type: Sensory neuron (minor oxygen-sensory), interneuron
In MoW: PLN
Male Wiring Project: PLNL, PLNR
In Wormbase: PLN, PLNL, PLNR
Lineage: TL.pppap, TR.pppap
Location: Lumbar ganglia
Description: Postembryonically born. The processes of PLN's run closely associated with those of PLM's in the posterior half of the animal. At midbody, they join the ventral sublateral cords via bilateral, short ventrally directed commissures. Anteriorly, they enter the ventral cord via amphidial commissures.
Neurotransmitter/Neuropeptide:
- Acetylcholine
(Loer, 2010; Duerr et al, 2008; Rand and Nonet, 1997-Appendix 2)
Innexin expression:
- INX-7
- INX-13
- UNC-9
(Altun et al., 2009)
Receptor expression:
- DOP-1 dopamine receptor
(Tsalik et al., 2003)
Function:
- Soluble guanylate cyclase (sGC, e.g. GCY-35 and GCY-36)-expressing oxygen-sensing neurons (URX, AQR, PQR, SDQ, BDU, ALN, and PLN) mediate the avoidance of high O₂ levels (Zimmer et al, 2009). URX appears to be the most important member of this group, since its activity is uniquely important for aggregation (Coates and de Bono, 2002), while for aerotactic behavior in an O₂ gradient, URX is redundant with other sGC-expressing neurons (Chang et al., 2006)