Ancestral roles of glia suggested by the nervous system of Caenorhabditis elegans

Abstract

The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans has a simple nervous system with glia restricted primarily to sensory organs. Some of the activities that would be provided by glia in the mammalian nervous system are either absent or provided by non-glial cell types in C. elegans, with only a select set of mammalian glial activities being similarly provided by specialized glial cells in this animal. These observations suggest that ancestral roles of glia may be to modulate neuronal morphology and neuronal sensitivity in sensory organs.