SCOTT W. EMMONS, Ph.D.

Development and Function of Neural Circuits, Connectomics 

How complex neural circuits form and how they function are major unsolved problems in neurobiology.  We use the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans to study these questions at the cellular and genetic levels.  Connectivity in the C. elegans nervous system is determined by serial section electron microscopy.  C. elegans is the only animal species for which the complete nervous system wiring diagram is known.  It is now available for both male and hermaphrodite adults from work in this laboratory (Cook et al., 2019).  This critical information provides an unparrelled foundation for C. elegans neuroscience research. 

The C. elegans nervous system is a complex neural network.  To understand how the patterns of connectivity are genetically specified, we make use of transgenes that express fluorescent proteins targeted to specific synapses.  We use these synapse-specific labels to identify mutants and genes that affect formation of particular synaptic contacts.  We have determined the expression patterns of the complete set of neural cell adhesion genes in the neural network that governs the mating behavior of the adult male.  By correlating the expression of these molecular cell labels with connectivity, we hope to decipher the molecular code for connectivity.

Jarrell. T. A., Wang, Y., Bloniarz, A. E., Brittin, C. A., Xu, M., Thomson, J. N., Albertson, D. G., Hall, D. H., and Emmons, S. W. (2012) The connectome of a decision-making neural network. Science 337, 437-444. This paper was awarded the 2012-2013 AAAS NEWCOMB CLEVELAND PRIZE for the Most Outstanding Research Article Published in Science.

Barrios, A., Ghosh, R., Fang, C., Emmons, S.W., and Barr, M.M. (2012) PDF-1 neuropeptide signaling modulates a neural circuit for mate-searching behavior in C. elegans. Nature Neuroscience 15, 1675-1682.

Emmons, S.W. (2015). The beginning of connectomics: a commentary on White et al. (1986) ‘The structure of the nervous system of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans’. Phil Trans R Soc Lond B 370.

Sammut, M., Cook, S.J., Nguyen, K.C.Q., Felton, T., Hall, D.H., Emmons, S.W., Poole, R.J., and Barrios, A. (2015). Glia-derived neurons are required for sex-specific learning in C. elegans. Nature 526, 385-390.

Kim, B., Suo, B. & Emmons, Scott W. (2016) Gene Function Prediction Based on Developmental Transcriptomes of the Two Sexes in C. elegans. Cell Reports 17, 917-928, doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2016.09.051.

Kim, B. & Emmons, S. W. (2017) Multiple conserved cell adhesion protein interactions mediate neural wiring of a sensory circuit in C. elegans. Vida electrónica 6, e29257, doi:10.7554/eLife.29257.
Emmons, S. W. (2018) Neural Circuits of Sexual Behavior in Caenorhabditis elegans. Annual review of neuroscience 41, 349-369.

Lázaro-Peña, M. I., Díaz-Balzac, C. A., Bülow, H. E. & Emmons, S. W. (2018) Synaptogenesis Is Modulated by Heparan Sulfate in Caenorhabditis elegans. Genetics 209, 195-208. HIGHLIGHTED ARTICLE

Cook, S. J., Jarrell, T. A., Brittin, C., Wang, Y., Bloniarz, A. E., Yakovlev, M. A., Nguyen, K. C. Q., Tang, L. T.-H., Bayer, E. A., Duerr, J. S., Buelow, H., Hobert, O., Hall, D. H., and Emmons, S. W. (2019) Whole-animal connectomes of both C. elegans sexes. Nature 571, 63–71.

Molina-García, L., Lloret-Fernández, C., Cook, S.J., Kim, B. Bonnington R.C., Sammut, M., O’Shea, J.M., Gilbert, S.P.R. Elliott, D.J., Hall, D.H., Emmons, S.W., Barrios, A., and Poole, R.J. (2020) A direct glia-to-neuron transdifferentiation ensures nimble male mating. eLife 2020;9:e48361 DOI: 10.7554/eLife.48361

Brittin, C.A., Cook, S.J., Hall, D.H., Emmons, S.W., and Cohen, N. (2021). A multi-scale brain map derived from whole-brain volumetric reconstructions. Nature 91, 105-110. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03284-x
Emmons, S. W., Yemini, E., and Zimmer, M. (2021) Methods for analyzing neuronal structure and activity in Caenorhabditis elegans. Genetics iyab072, DOI: 10.1093/genetics/iyab072 WormBook

N. Sakai, N., Sun, P., Kim, B. and S. W. Emmons (2023) Function of cell adhesion molecules in differentiation of ray sensory neurons in C. elegans, G3: Genes, Genomes, Genetics 13, Pages jkac338

Ruach, R., N. Ratner, S. W. Emmons and A. Zaslaver (2023). "The synaptic organization in the Caenorhabditis elegans neural network suggests significant local compartmentalized computations." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 120(3): e2201699120.