Type: Ventral cord motor neuron, proprioceptive neuron
Connectivity:
- In MoW: DBn
- In WormWiring: DB01_h, DB03_h, DB04_h, DB05_h, DB03_m, DB04_m, DB05_m, DB06_m, DB07_m
- In Nemanode: DBn
In Wormbase: DB, DB1/3, DB2, DB3/1, DB4, DB5, DB6, DB7
Lineage: AB plpaaaapp or AB prpaaaapp,
AB arappappa, AB prpaaaapp or AB plpaaaapp,
AB prpappapp, AB plpapappp, AB plppaappp,
AB prppaappp
Location: Body (ventral nerve cord)
Description: Ventral cord "dorsal B " motor neurons. The DB neurons receive extensive input from PVC and innervates dorsal muscles and VDn.
Neurotransmitter/ Neuropeptide:
- Acetylcholine
(Duerr et al., 2008; Rand and Nonet, 1997-Appendix 2)
Innexin expression:
- INX-1a
- INX-1b
- INX-2
- INX-3
- INX-14
- UNC-7
- UNC-9
(Altun et al., 2009; Bhattacharya et al., 2019)
Receptor expression:
- ACR-14; nicotinic AChR non-alpha subunit
- Possibly PDFR-1; pigment dispersing factor (PDF-1) receptor (in DB2)
(Barrios et al., 2012; Fox et al., 2005)
Function:
- Forward locomotion. The VD neurons are activated during forward movement (Haspel et al., 2010). Ablation of five of seven DB neurons causes defects in larval forward movement (Chalfie et al., 1985). See Locomotory circuit.
- Proprioception involving propagation of rhythmic activities along the body during forward locomotion. Ventral and dorsal bending of an anterior body region directly activates VB and DB motor neurons (Wen et al., 2012). Gap junctions between neighbors as well as overlapping segments of their processes then propagate the bending signal from anterior to posterior. The mechanosensitive-proprioceptive receptors are likely localized near the anterior of the processes.
Reporters:
- At CGC:
- Other: