Dendrite plasticity: branching out for greener pastures

Abstract

Environmental stress triggers substantial alterations in animal physiology and, in some cases, brain structure. Using the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, a new study reports that unfavorable conditions lead to dramatic dendrite remodeling in neurons that mediate an adaptive dispersal behavior.

Figure 1.

Schematic diagram of the IL2QDL and IL2QVL neurons in the C. elegans head. Non-dauer IL2 neurons extend a single unbranched sensory dendrite (blue) anteriorly into the inner labial sensillium, with a simple axon (red) extending posteriorly from the soma into the nerve ring. When conditions favor dauer formation, IL2 neurons rapidly remodel their neurites, with the dendrite undergoing extensive arborization within the local body quadrant, a process that requires the furin homolog KPC-1. The axon (red) is remodeled in an indeterminate fashion which awaits future study. When conditions favor the exit from dauer and a return to normal development, this complex branching pattern is largely pruned, returning the neuron to its basal morphology.