Data sources
White et al., 1986, compilation
This dataset is a compilation of multiple partially overlapping animals. The cells
making up the somatic nervous system were reconstructed by
White et al.,
1986 and compiled by
Varshney et
al., 2011. The cells making up the pharyngeal nervous systems were reconstructed
by Albertson and
Thomson, 1976 and cleaned up by Nikhil Bhatla, developer of
WormWeb.org. Non-neuronal cells were
not annotated individually but are grouped by cell type (e.g. Body wall muscles).
Witvliet et al., 2020, datasets 1-8
Chemical synapses for all eight datasets were acquired from
Witvliet et al.,
2020. Chemical synapes were annotated independently by three annotators and only
chemical synapses that at least two annotators agreed to were included in the final
dataset. Gap junctions were not thoroughly annotated but have been provided by the
authors for anyone interested. The gap junction annotation is by no means exhaustive,
and should not be treated as such.
White et al., 1986, JSH and N2U
The two datasets were reconstructed by
White et al.,
1986 and compiled by Durbin, 1987. Individual muscle cells were not annotated
by White et al., 1986. To allow comparison to other datasets, individual muscle
cells (and synapses onto them) were annotated in scans of the original EM
micrographs by the Zhen Lab.
These synapses have been added to the datasets instead of the originally listed
anonymous neuromuscular junctions.
White et al., 1986, JSE
The dataset was reconstructed by
White et al.,
1986 and compiled by
Hall and
Russell, 1991.
Types of connections
Connections were classified by their change in synapse number across developmental
stages by Witvliet
et al., 2020.
Stable connections
Present from birth to adulthood.
Developmentally dynamic connections
Significantly increase or decrease their relative strength in a stereotyped manner,
sometimes even forming new connections or eliminating existing connections at specific
life stages.
Variable connections
Exhibit no consistent trend in their changing synapse numbers, and are not present in
every animal.
Post-embryonic connections
Are formed between neurons that are born or differentiate after birth.
Not classified connections
Were not found in any of the datasets reconstructed by
Witvliet et al.,
2020. Likely a gap junction or variable connection.
Download data
Witvliet et al., 2020
Dataset 1 (L1 brain)
Dataset 2 (L1 brain)
Dataset 3 (L1 brain)
Dataset 4 (L1 brain)
Dataset 5 (L2 brain)
Dataset 6 (L3 brain)
Dataset 7 (adult brain)
Dataset 8 (adult brain)
White et al., 1986
JSH (L4 brain)
N2U (adult brain)
JSE (adult tail)
Whole-animal compilation (data added by Varshey et al., 2011)
Cite us
If you use NemaNode, please cite Witvliet et al., 2020.
In addition, please cite the original data sources for the datasets you are examining.
Contribute
To contribute, fork us on GitHub and submit a pull request.