Topic: Xenopus laevis

Neural circuits are reconfigured to tune behaviour to the prevailing conditions. For instance, resting Xenopus laevis tadpoles start swimming when appropriately stimulated, but halt if the same stimulation is applied during ongoing locomotion. These opposite responses can be explained by a reconfiguration of the sensorimotor circuit, so that the same sensory pathway can exert either an excitatory or inhibitory effect on locomotion, depending on the current motor state. This form of neuronal network reconfiguration could be shared by different neuronal networks and across different species.Prev

The Xenopus laevis frog shows a wide range of motor behaviors during metamorphosis, transitioning from tail-based escape swimming, to free swimming, and finally, limb-based movement. This swim-to-limb transition allows us to study in a single organism how motor and interneurons in the spinal cord generate these behaviors. Here, utilizing advances in genetic manipulation and behavioral tracking, we dissect the molecular features and contribution of each spinal cord cardinal class to swim versus limb behavior over frog metamorphosis.We devise a high-throughput CRISPR screen, in which we knock ou