An enteric neuron ionotropic receptor regulates salt stress resistance

Yeon J, Kim J, Sato K, Nurrish S, Chen L, Krishan N, Bates S, Ihara S, Rasouli S, Porwal C, Venkatachalam V, Touhara K, Sengupta P.

Nature, 2026 April 01. doi: 10.1038/s41586-026-10348-3

The C. elegans nervous system reads the internal state of the hydrogen peroxide-detoxification machinery to trigger escape from this common reactive chemical.

Xu Y, Gangadharan S, Seyedolmohadesin M, Gebeyaw E, Fulton A, Ashih CD, Duncan M, Zelich M, Liu J, Torkashvand M, Shaw D, Gusarova K, Macwan M, Kelly A, Beslic I, Sood A, Liu O, Scholz M, Venkatachalam V, Apfeld J.

bioRxiv [Preprint]. 2026 Jan 24:2026.01.22.701078. doi: 10.64898/2026.01.22.701078.

Neuronal Activity Regulating the Dauer Entry Decision in Caenorhabditis elegans.

Prakash SJ, Seyedolmohadesin M, Zhang MG, Cohen SM, Gharib S, Venkatachalam V, Sternberg PW.

eNeuro. 2026 Jan 27;13(1):ENEURO.0447-24.2025. doi: 10.1523/ENEURO.0447-24.2025. Print 2026 Jan.

Whole-brain chemosensory responses of both C. elegans sexes.

Seyedolmohadesin M, Fu X, Torkashvand M, Rasouli S, Lang S, Li L, Kalinski C, Cook SJ, Schroeder FC, Yemini E, Venkatachalam V.

bioRxiv [Preprint]. 2025 May 19:2025.05.15.654129. doi: 10.1101/2025.05.15.654129.

Sensory integration of food and population density during the diapause exit decision involves insulin-like signaling in Caenorhabditis elegans.

Zhang MG, Seyedolmohadesin M, Mercado SH, Tauffenberger A, Park H, Finnen N, Schroeder FC, Venkatachalam V, Sternberg PW.

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2024 Oct;121(40):e2405391121. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2405391121. Epub 2024 Sep 24.

Versatile multiple object tracking in sparse 2D/3D videos via deformable image registration.

Ryu J, Nejatbakhsh A, Torkashvand M, Gangadharan S, Seyedolmohadesin M, Kim J, Paninski L, Venkatachalam V.

PLoS Comput Biol. 2024 May 20;20(5):e1012075. doi: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1012075. eCollection 2024 May.

Sensory integration of food availability and population density during the diapause exit decision involves insulin-like signaling in Caenorhabditis elegans.

Zhang MG, Seyedolmohadesin M, Hawk S, Park H, Finnen N, Schroeder F, Venkatachalam V, Sternberg PW.

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2024 Oct;121(40):e2405391121. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2405391121.

Programmed Cell Death Modifies Neural Circuits and Tunes Intrinsic Behavior.

Kochersberger A, Torkashvand MM, Lee D, Baskoylu S, Sengupta T, Koonce N, Emerson CE, Patel NV, Colón-Ramos D, Flavell S, Horvitz HR, Venkatachalam V, Hammarlund M.

bioRxiv [Preprint]. 2023 Sep 25:2023.09.11.557249. doi: 10.1101/2023.09.11.557249.

Continuous, long-term crawling behavior characterized by a robotic transport system.

Yu J, Dancausse S, Paz M, Faderin T, Gaviria M, Shomar JW, Zucker D, Venkatachalam V, Klein M.

Elife. 2023 Aug 3;12:e86585. doi: 10.7554/eLife.86585.

Learning Probabilistic Piecewise Rigid Atlases of Model Organisms via Generative Deep Networks.

Nejatbakhsh A, Dey N, Venkatachalam V, Yemini E, Paninski L, Varol E.

Inf Process Med Imaging. 2023 Jun;13939:332-343. doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-34048-2_26. Epub 2023 Jun 8.

Continuous, long-term crawling behavior characterized by a robotic transport system.

Yu J, Dancausse S, Paz M, Faderin T, Gaviria M, Shomar J, Zucker D, Venkatachalam V, Klein M.

Elife. 2023 Aug 03;12:e86585. doi: 10.7554/eLife.86585.

Functional imaging and quantification of multineuronal olfactory responses in C. elegans.

Lin A, Qin S, Casademunt H, Wu M, Hung W, Cain G, Tan NZ, Valenzuela R, Lesanpezeshki L, Venkatachalam V, Pehlevan C, Zhen M, Samuel ADT.

Sci Adv. 2023 Mar;9(9):eade1249. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.ade1249. Epub 2023 Mar 1.

Imaging whole-brain activity to understand behavior.

Lin A, Witvliet D, Hernandez-Nunez L, Linderman SW, Samuel ADT, Venkatachalam V.

Nat Rev Phys. 2022 May;4(5):292-305. doi: 10.1038/s42254-022-00430-w. Epub 2022 Mar 8.

Interneuron control of C. elegans developmental decision-making.

Chai CM, Torkashvand M, Seyedolmohadesin M, Park H, Venkatachalam V, Sternberg PW.

Curr Biol. 2022 May 23;32(10):2316-2324.e4. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2022.03.077. Epub 2022 Apr 20.

Modulation of sensory perception by hydrogen peroxide enables Caenorhabditis elegans to find a niche that provides both food and protection from hydrogen peroxide.

Schiffer JA, Stumbur SV, Seyedolmohadesin M, Xu Y, Serkin WT, McGowan NG, Banjo O, Torkashvand M, Lin A, Hosea CN, Assié A, Samuel BS, O'Donnell MP, Venkatachalam V, Apfeld J.

PLoS Pathog. 2021 Dec 23;17(12):e1010112. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1010112. eCollection 2021 Dec.

Natural sensory context drives diverse brain-wide activity during C. elegans mating.

Susoy V, Hung W, Witvliet D, Whitener JE, Wu M, Park CF, Graham BJ, Zhen M, Venkatachalam V, Samuel ADT.

Cell. 2021 Sep 30;184(20):5122-5137.e17. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2021.08.024. Epub 2021 Sep 16.

Corollary discharge promotes a sustained motor state in a neural circuit for navigation.

Ji N, Venkatachalam V, Rodgers HD, Hung W, Kawano T, Clark CM, Lim M, Alkema MJ, Zhen M, Samuel AD.

Elife. 2021 Apr 21;10:e68848. doi: 10.7554/eLife.68848.

NeuroPAL: A Multicolor Atlas for Whole-Brain Neuronal Identification in C. elegans.

Yemini E, Lin A, Nejatbakhsh A, Varol E, Sun R, Mena GE, Samuel ADT, Paninski L, Venkatachalam V, Hobert O.

Cell. 2021 Jan 7;184(1):272-288.e11. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2020.12.012. Epub 2020 Dec 29.

Gap Junctions and NCA Cation Channels Are Critical for Developmentally Timed Sleep and Arousal in Caenorhabditis elegans.

Huang H, Hayden DJ, Zhu CT, Bennett HL, Venkatachalam V, Skuja LL, Hart AC.

Genetics. 2018 Dec;210(4):1369-1381. doi: 10.1534/genetics.118.301551. Epub 2018 Oct 15.

Contrasting responses within a single neuron class enable sex-specific attraction in Caenorhabditis elegans.

Narayan A, Venkatachalam V, Durak O, Reilly DK, Bose N, Schroeder FC, Samuel AD, Srinivasan J, Sternberg PW.

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2016 Mar 8;113(10):E1392-401. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1600786113. Epub 2016 Feb 22.

Pan-neuronal imaging in roaming Caenorhabditis elegans.

Venkatachalam V, Ji N, Wang X, Clark C, Mitchell JK, Klein M, Tabone CJ, Florman J, Ji H, Greenwood J, Chisholm AD, Srinivasan J, Alkema M, Zhen M, Samuel AD.

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2016 Feb 23;113(8):E1082-8. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1507109113. Epub 2015 Dec 28.

Bidirectional thermotaxis in Caenorhabditis elegans is mediated by distinct sensorimotor strategies driven by the AFD thermosensory neurons.

Luo L, Cook N, Venkatachalam V, Martinez-Velazquez LA, Zhang X, Calvo AC, Hawk J, MacInnis BL, Frank M, Ng JH, Klein M, Gershow M, Hammarlund M, Goodman MB, Colón-Ramos DA, Zhang Y, Samuel AD.

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2014 Feb 18;111(7):2776-81. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1315205111. Epub 2014 Feb 3.

Local charge of the ν = 5/2 fractional quantum Hall state.

Venkatachalam V, Yacoby A, Pfeiffer L, West K.

Nature. 2011 Jan 13;469(7329):185-8. doi: 10.1038/nature09680.