Fig. 1: ASH sensory neurons respond to rapid cooling.

a Schematic drawing of the rapid cooling system (RCS). Upper panel: whole RCS. Lower panel: Vertical view of RCS. b–d Locomotion behavior induced by cooling rates of 0 °C/s at 20.5 °C (b), 2.7 °C/s with range 20.5-15 °C (c), 2.7 °C/s with range 25.5-20 °C (d) in a forward-moving worm. In each figure, the top is temperature trace, the bottom is locomotion map. Forward (dark blue), pause (yellow), reverse (red) and turn (light blue). e, f Ratio of reversal (e) and turn (f) in the denoted worms. A cooling-evoked reversal or turn is defined by stopping forward movement and initiating a reversal with at least half a head swing or initiating a turn, respectively, within 3–8 s in the locomotion map. An omega turn following reversal without interruption was also defined as a cooling-evoked turn. n = 5, 6, 5 groups for each bar in (e, f) ≥10 worms/group. g–i Rapid cooling-evoked locomotion behaviors in ASH-silenced (g), ASH-blocked (h), and ASH-killed (i) worms. j, k Calculation of reversal (j) and turn (k) index for (g–i). The reversal or turn index was calculated by the ratio of reversal or turn elicited by cooling minus the ratio of baseline reversal or turn without cooling, respectively. The baseline reversal or turn were showed in Supplementary Fig. 3. n = 5 groups for each bar in (j, k) ≥10 worms/group. l–o ASH calcium transients induced by 0 °C/s at 20.5 °C (l), 2.7 °C/s with range 20.5–15 °C (m), 2.7 °C/s with range 25.5–20 °C (n). l–n Heatmaps. o Representative traces. In (o), the colored lines and the light gray area surrounding them indicate the mean values and SEM, respectively. n = 12, 20, 18 worms for each bar. Data are expressed as the mean ± SEM. Student’s t test or Mann‒Whitney rank sum tests (two-sided) in (j, k). One-way ANOVA followed by Dunnett’s multiple comparisons in (e, f, o). ***p < 0.001.