Type: Interneuron
In MoW: AVG
Male Wiring Project: AVG
In Wormbase: AVG
Lineage: AB prpapppap
Location: Retrovesicular ganglion of head
Description: Ventral cord interneuron, few synapses, sends process into tailspike.
Neurotransmitter:
Function: Anterior guidepost neuron. AVG pioneers the right tract of the ventral nerve cord. It expresses UNC-6 at 3-fold embryo stage to provide a continuous UNC-6 (netrin)-labeled pathway restricted to the right tract of the nerve cord. The unilateral UNC-6 cue from AVG guides various paired axons growing from the nerve ring and lumbar ganglia to make rightward decussations as they enter the ventral nerve cord. UNC-6 also promotes bundling of axons within the cord itself. If the parent of AVG is ablated in wild-type embryos, interneurons and ventral cord motor neurons form several small fascicles rather than one tight bundle of right side tract and occasionally the right side axons shift to the left side (Wadsworth et al., 1996; Wadsworth and Hedgecock, 1986; Durbin 1987; Antebi et al., 1997).
Receptor Expression: Express glutamate receptor subunits, GLR-1, GLR-2, NMR-1 and NMR-2 (Maricq et al., 1995; Brockie et al., 2001). Expresses alpha subunit of a nicotinic acetylcholine receptor, DEG-3 (Treinin and Chalfie, 1995).