Meeting Abstract
Aplysia californica is a valuable model organism for the genomic and transcriptomic analysis of learning and memory. The neural circuits controlling the defensive withdrawal reflexes of this organism have been analyzed extensively, to the level of individual, functionally identified neurons. These circuits are capable of several forms of learning, including sensitization, habituation, and classical conditioning. We utilized RNA-seq to profile individual sensory and motor neurons known to control both the tail-withdrawal reflex (TWR) and siphon/gill-withdrawal reflex (S/GWR). We discovered a multitude of transcripts to be differentially expressed between the pleural ventrocaudal (VC) sensory neurons of the TWR and the abdominal LE sensory neurons of the S/GWR. These included multiple transcripts, including several uncharacterized transcripts (among others). We also analyzed differential expression between the LFs motor neurons contributing to siphon withdrawal of the S/GWR and the L7 motor neurons contributing to the gill withdrawal component of the S/GWR. Several transcripts were found to be differentially expressed suggesting differential regulation of these genes. These differentially expressed transcripts may help us to identify functionally similar neurons and their expression profiles as they are involved in defensive withdrawal reflexes and produce their repertoire of signaling molecules to be utilized by each circuit.
