The nematode worm, C. elegans, has been increasingly exploited as a behavioral model for understanding the genetic contributions to ethanol responses (Bettinger and McIntire, 2004; Davies et al., 2003, 2004; Davis et al., 2008; Graham et al., 2009; Kapfhamer et al., 2008; Lee et al., 2009; Mitchell et al., 2007, 2010; Morgan and Sedensky, 1995; Speca et al., 2010). Worms are an excellent model for this work because of the extremely well conserved neurobiology between worms and humans (Bargmann, 1998). Worms show a dose-dependent depression of several behaviors when treated with ethanol (Davies et al., 2003, 2004; Morgan and Sedensky, 1995). Several laboratories are now exploring the mechanisms by which ethanol exerts its behavioral or developmental effects, but little effort has been made to determine if metabolism has a significant role in modulating behavioral responses to ethanol in this model. Here, we directly examine the effect of altering ethanol metabolism on the behavioral response to ethanol in the worm.
