Regulatory Logic Of Pan Neuronal Gene Expression In Caenorhabditis Elegans

Nervous systems of all organisms are remarkably complex. This complexity is a reflection of the great diversity of the nervous systems' basic units, the neurons. There is a large variety of different neuron types that differ in their morphology, function and their underlying molecular composition. Even though neurons are very diverse, they all share common features, namely cellular projections (axons and dendrites) and synapses. Genes expressed in the entire nervous system, called pan-neuronal genes, encode the molecular correlates to these common features. Although a lot is known about how specific transcription factors, Terminal Selectors (TS), specify the different neuronal types by co-regulating neuron type specific gene expression, much less is understood about the regulatory programs that control the expression of pan-neuronal genes. Addressing this question is key to understanding how neuronal fate is determined. In this thesis I have explored the regulatory logic of pan-neuronal genes in C. elegans.