Figure 5.

The sexual identity of the sensory neurons shapes the avoidance behavior in a sexually dimorphic manner

(A) Model predictions of the escape response in wild-type worms (left), worms with feminized or masculinized ASH (middle), and AVA (right). Predicted avoidance at each voltage point is calculated by averaging the movement direction results of the appropriate parameters’ sets.

(B) Schematic of iBLINC.⁶³

(C) Illustration of the contact area (dashed rectangle) between ASH (left and right, orange) and AVA (left and right, blue) at the nerve ring along the ASH axon.

(D) Representative confocal micrographs of an adult hermaphrodite and male, showing iBLINC GFP puncta only in hermaphrodites at the contact areas of ASH-AVA (dashed rectangles). AVA neurons are labeled with cytoplasmic mCherry. Scale bars, 10 μm.

(E) Quantification of ASH-AVA iBLINC GFP puncta in hermaphrodites and males: wild-type and sex-reversed animals. osm-5 promoter drives expression in all ciliated neurons (“pan-sensory”). n = 15–18 animals per group.

(F) Avoidance index for ASH optogenetic activation in wild-type or pan-sensory sex-reversed animals. LED intensity is ∼1.47 mW/mm². n = 33–37 animals per group.

(G) ASH optogenetic activation in wild-type worms and worms with masculinized or feminized AVA. LED intensity is ∼1.47 mW/mm². n = 34–36 animals per group.

In (E), we performed a Kruskal-Wallis test followed by Dunn’s multiple comparison test; in (F) and (G), we performed a Mann-Whitney test.

See Figures S4–S6.