RIM Mutants Occlude the Effects of Aliphatic Alcohols on C. elegans Locomotion.

Biomolecular condensates formed by liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) are emerging as a critical organizing principle for synaptic compartmentalization. Aliphatic alcohols are commonly used to disrupt LLPS in biochemical studies and in cells. Here, we tested the impact of aliphatic alcohols at the organismal level in C. elegans . We observe that aliphatic alcohols impair swimming behavior in wild-type controls but not in RIM/ UNC-10 mutant strains. Thus, our results suggest an in vivo correlate to the previously reported role of RIM liquid condensates in synaptic function in reduced systems.