Dr Mario de Bono
University position
Group Leader, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology
Dr Mario de Bono is pleased to consider applications from prospective PhD students.
Institutes
Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology
Home page
http://www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk/groups/... (personal home page)
Research Themes
Interests
We seek to understand how neural networks are assembled, function and evolve.
C. elegans is a powerful system to study neural circuits. The worm has exactly 302 neurons each of which can be identified. EM reconstructions have identified synaptic connections made by each neuron, providing a wiring diagram. By combining genetics, molecular and cell biology, and neural imaging we can dissect how these circuits work.
The worm inhabits humus where it feeds on microbes. To forage it integrates multiple cues, e.g., signals from bacteria and other animal, levels of ambient O2 and CO2. We are studying the genetic and neural architectures that allow these responses to be integrated and modified by experience.
Foraging strategies vary across natural C. elegans isolates, providing an opportunity also to investigate how neural circuits and behaviour evolve.
Conservation in neural signalling means our results are often generally applicable to other animals, including mammals.
Research Focus
Keywordsbehaviour neural signalling neuropeptides natural variation neural circuit |
Clinical conditionsDiabetes Ischemia |
Equipment
Behavioural analysis
Calcium imaging
Confocal microscopy
Fluorescence microscopy
Laser cell ablation
Recombinant protein expression
Collaborators
Cambridge |
Key publications
Persson A, Gross E, Laurent P, Busch KE, Bretes H, de Bono M (2009), “Natural variation in a neural globin tunes oxygen sensing in wild Caenorhabditis elegans.” Nature 458(7241):1030-3 Details
de Bono M, Bargmann CI (1998), “Natural variation in a neuropeptide Y receptor homolog modifies social behavior and food response in C. elegans.” Cell 94(5):679-89 Details
Publications
2011
Arellano-Carbajal F, Briseño-Roa L, Couto A, Cheung BH, Labouesse M, de Bono M (2011), “Macoilin, a conserved nervous system-specific ER membrane protein that regulates neuronal excitability.” PLoS Genet 7(3):e1001341 Details
Bretscher AJ, Kodama-Namba E, Busch KE, Murphy RJ, Soltesz Z, Laurent P, de Bono M (2011), “Temperature, oxygen, and salt-sensing neurons in C. elegans are carbon dioxide sensors that control avoidance behavior.” Neuron 69(6):1099-113 Details
2010
Weber KP, De S, Kozarewa I, Turner DJ, Babu MM, de Bono M (2010), “Whole genome sequencing highlights genetic changes associated with laboratory domestication of C. elegans.” PLoS One 5(11):e13922 Details
2009
Cohen M, Reale V, Olofsson B, Knights A, Evans P, de Bono M (2009), “Coordinated regulation of foraging and metabolism in C. elegans by RFamide neuropeptide signaling.” Cell Metab 9(4):375-85 Details
2008
Bretscher AJ, Busch KE, de Bono M (2008), “A carbon dioxide avoidance behavior is integrated with responses to ambient oxygen and food in Caenorhabditis elegans.” Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 105(23):8044-9 Details
2006
Rogers C, Persson A, Cheung B, de Bono M (2006), “Behavioral motifs and neural pathways coordinating O2 responses and aggregation in C. elegans.” Curr Biol 16(7):649-59 Details
2005
Cheung BH, Cohen M, Rogers C, Albayram O, de Bono M (2005), “Experience-dependent modulation of C. elegans behavior by ambient oxygen.” Curr Biol 15(10):905-17 Details
de Bono M, Maricq AV (2005), “Neuronal substrates of complex behaviors in C. elegans.” Annu Rev Neurosci 28:451-501 Details
2004
Cheung BH, Arellano-Carbajal F, Rybicki I, de Bono M (2004), “Soluble guanylate cyclases act in neurons exposed to the body fluid to promote C. elegans aggregation behavior.” Curr Biol 14(12):1105-11 Details
2003
Rogers C, Reale V, Kim K, Chatwin H, Li C, Evans P, de Bono M (2003), “Inhibition of Caenorhabditis elegans social feeding by FMRFamide-related peptide activation of NPR 1” Nature Neuroscience 6:1178-85
2002
Coates JC, de Bono M (2002), “Antagonistic pathways in neurons exposed to body fluid regulate social feeding in Caenorhabditis elegans” Nature 419:925-9
de Bono M, Tobin DM, Davis MW, Avery L, Bargmann CI (2002), “Social feeding in Caenorhabditis elegans is induced by neurons that detect aversive stimuli.” Nature 419(6910):899-903 Details
Research and Collaboration
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