TY - JOUR T1 - Ammonium-Acetate Is Sensed by Gustatory and Olfactory Neurons in Caenorhabditis elegans A1 - Frøkjær-Jensen, Christian A1 - Ailion, Michael A1 - Lockery, Shawn R. Y1 - 2008/06/18 N2 - BackgroundCaenorhabditis elegans chemosensation has been successfully studied using behavioral assays that treat detection of volatile and water soluble chemicals as separate senses, analogous to smell and taste. However, considerable ambiguity has been associated with the attractive properties of the compound ammonium-acetate (NH4Ac). NH4Ac has been used in behavioral assays both as a chemosensory neutral compound and as an attractant.Methodology/Main FindingsHere we show that over a range of concentrations NH4Ac can be detected both as a water soluble attractant and as an odorant, and that ammonia and acetic acid individually act as olfactory attractants. We use genetic analysis to show that NaCl and NH4Ac sensation are mediated by separate pathways and that ammonium sensation depends on the cyclic nucleotide gated ion channel TAX-2/TAX-4, but acetate sensation does not. Furthermore we show that sodium-acetate (NaAc) and ammonium-chloride (NH4Cl) are not detected as Na+ and Cl− specific stimuli, respectively.Conclusions/SignificanceThese findings clarify the behavioral response of C. elegans to NH4Ac. The results should have an impact on the design and interpretation of chemosensory experiments studying detection and adaptation to soluble compounds in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. JF - PLOS ONE JA - PLOS ONE VL - 3 IS - 6 UR - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0002467 SP - e2467 EP - PB - Public Library of Science M3 - doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0002467 ER -