Peptide-driven control of somersaulting in Hydra vulgaris

Curr Biol. 2023 May 22;33(10):1893-1905.e4. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.03.047. Epub 2023 Apr 10.

Abstract

The cnidarian Hydra vulgaris has a simple nervous system with a few hundred neurons in distributed networks. Yet Hydra can perform somersaults, a complex acrobatic locomotion. To understand the neural mechanisms of somersaulting we used calcium imaging and found that rhythmical potential 1 (RP1) neurons activate before somersaulting. Decreasing RP1 activity or ablating RP1 neurons reduced somersaulting, while two-photon activation of RP1 neurons induced somersaulting. Hym-248, a peptide synthesized by RP1 cells, selectively generated somersaulting. We conclude that RP1 activity, via release of Hym-248, is necessary and sufficient for somersaulting. We propose a circuit model to explain the sequential unfolding of this locomotion, using integrate-to-threshold decision making and cross-inhibition. Our work demonstrates that peptide-based signaling is used by simple nervous systems to generate behavioral fixed action patterns. VIDEO ABSTRACT.

Keywords: GLWamide; Hym-248; fixed action pattern; two-photon.

Publication types

  • Video-Audio Media
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Animals
  • Cnidaria*
  • Hydra* / physiology
  • Nervous System
  • Peptides

Substances

  • Peptides