Drosophila mef2 is essential for normal mushroom body and wing development.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Crittenden JR
PROVIDER: S-EPMC6176937 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:Correct wiring of the mushroom body (MB) neuropil in the Drosophila brain involves appropriate positioning of different axonal lobes, as well as the sister branches that develop from individual axons. This positioning requires the integration of various guidance cues provided by different cell types, which help the axons find their final positions within the neuropil. Semaphorins are well-known for their conserved roles in neuronal development and axon guidance. We investigated the role of Sema-1a in MB development more closely. We show that Sema-1a is expressed in the MBs as well as surrounding structures, including the glial transient interhemispheric fibrous ring, throughout development. By loss- and gain-of-function experiments, we show that the MB axons display lobe and sister branch-specific Sema-1a signaling, which controls different aspects of axon outgrowth and guidance. Furthermore, we demonstrate that these effects are modulated by the integration of MB intrinsic and extrinsic Sema-1a signaling pathways involving PlexA and PlexB. Finally, we also show a role for neuronal- glial interaction in Sema-1a dependent ?-lobe outgrowth.
| S-EPMC5011136 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Many neurons show compartmentalized activity, in which activity does not spread readily across the cell, allowing input and output to occur locally. However, the functional implications of compartmentalized activity for the wider neural circuit are often unclear. We addressed this problem in the Drosophila mushroom body, whose principal neurons, Kenyon cells, receive feedback inhibition from a non-spiking interneuron called the anterior paired lateral (APL) neuron. We used local stimulation and volumetric calcium imaging to show that APL inhibits Kenyon cells' dendrites and axons, and that both activity in APL and APL's inhibitory effect on Kenyon cells are spatially localized (the latter somewhat less so), allowing APL to differentially inhibit different mushroom body compartments. Applying these results to the Drosophila hemibrain connectome predicts that individual Kenyon cells inhibit themselves via APL more strongly than they inhibit other individual Kenyon cells. These findings reveal how cellular physiology and detailed network anatomy can combine to influence circuit function.
| S-EPMC7541083 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Genomic analysis of axon pruning in Drosophila mushroom body neurons identifies the RNA-binding protein Boule as a negative regulator; This SuperSeries is composed of the following subset Series:; GSE10012: Timecourse: MB neurons at the onset and early steps of axon pruning; GSE10013: EcR-dependent gene expression in MB neurons at the onset of axon pruning Experiment Overall Design: Refer to individual Series
2008-06-18 | E-GEOD-10014 | biostudies-arrayexpress
Project description:The transcription factor Mef2 has well established roles in muscle development in Drosophila and in the differentiation of many cell types in mammals, including neurons. Here, we describe a role for Mef2 in the Drosophila pacemaker neurons that regulate circadian behavioral rhythms. We found that Mef2 is normally produced in all adult clock neurons and that Mef2 overexpression in clock neurons leads to long period and complex rhythms of adult locomotor behavior. Knocking down Mef2 expression via RNAi or expressing a repressor form of Mef2 caused flies to lose circadian behavioral rhythms. These behavioral changes are correlated with altered molecular clocks in pacemaker neurons: Mef2 overexpression causes the oscillations in individual pacemaker neurons to become desynchronized, while Mef2 knockdown strongly dampens molecular rhythms. Thus, a normal level of Mef2 activity is required in clock neurons to maintain robust and accurate circadian behavioral rhythms.
| S-EPMC2876976 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundThe mushroom bodies (MBs) of Drosophila are required for complex behaviors and consist of three types of neurons, gamma, alpha'/beta' and alpha/beta. Previously, roles for transcription factors in MB neuronal differentiation have only been described for a subset of MB neurons. We are investigating the roles of unfulfilled (unf; HR51, CG16801) in MB development. unf encodes a nuclear receptor that is orthologous to the nuclear receptors fasciculation of axons defective 1 (FAX-1) of the nematode and photoreceptor specific nuclear receptor (PNR) of mammals. Based on our previous observations that unf transcripts accumulate in MB neurons at all developmental stages and the presence of axon pathfinding defects in fax-1 mutants, we hypothesized that unf regulates MB axon growth and pathfinding.ResultsWe show that unf mutants exhibit a range of highly penetrant axon stalling phenotypes affecting all neurons of the larval and adult MBs. Phenotypic analysis of unfX1 mutants revealed that alpha'/beta' and alpha/beta neurons initially project axons but stall prior to the formation of medial or dorsal MB lobes. unfZ0001 mutants form medial lobes, although these axons fail to branch, which results in a failure to form the alpha or alpha' dorsal lobes. In either mutant background, gamma neurons fail to develop larval-specific dorsal projections. These mutant gamma neurons undergo normal pruning, but fail to re-extend axons medially during pupal development. unfRNAi animals displayed phenotypes similar to those seen in unfZ0001 mutants. Unique asymmetrical phenotypes were observed in unfX1/unfZ0001 compound heterozygotes. Expression of UAS-unf transgenes in MB neurons rescues the larval and adult unf mutant phenotypes.ConclusionsThese data support the hypothesis that unf plays a common role in the development of all types of MB neurons. Our data indicate that unf is necessary for MB axon extension and branching and that the formation of dorsal collaterals is more sensitive to the loss of unf function than medial projections. The asymmetrical phenotypes observed in compound heterozygotes support the hypothesis that the earliest MB axons may serve as pioneers for the later-born MB neurons, providing evidence for pioneer MB axon guidance in post-embryonic development.
| S-EPMC2829026 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The Drosophila mushroom body (MB) is a higher olfactory center where olfactory and other sensory information are thought to be associated. However, how MB neurons of Drosophila respond to sensory stimuli other than odor is not known. Here, we characterized the responses of MB neurons to a change in airflow, a stimulus associated with odor perception. In vivo calcium imaging from MB neurons revealed surprisingly strong and dynamic responses to an airflow stimulus. This response was dependent on the movement of the 3(rd) antennal segment, suggesting that Johnston's organ may be detecting the airflow. The calyx, the input region of the MB, responded homogeneously to airflow on. However, in the output lobes of the MB, different types of MB neurons responded with different patterns of activity to airflow on and off. Furthermore, detailed spatial analysis of the responses revealed that even within a lobe that is composed of a single type of MB neuron, there are subdivisions that respond differently to airflow on and off. These subdivisions within a single lobe were organized in a stereotypic manner across flies. For the first time, we show that changes in airflow affect MB neurons significantly and these effects are spatially organized into divisions smaller than previously defined MB neuron types.
| S-EPMC2603598 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The patterns of neuronal connectivity underlying multisensory integration, a fundamental property of many brains, remain poorly characterized. The Drosophila melanogaster mushroom body-an associative center-is an ideal system to investigate how different sensory channels converge in higher order brain centers. The neurons connecting the mushroom body to the olfactory system have been described in great detail, but input from other sensory systems remains poorly defined. Here, we use a range of anatomical and genetic techniques to identify two types of input neuron that connect visual processing centers-the lobula and the posterior lateral protocerebrum-to the dorsal accessory calyx of the mushroom body. Together with previous work that described a pathway conveying visual information from the medulla to the ventral accessory calyx of the mushroom body, our study defines a second, parallel pathway that is anatomically poised to convey information from the visual system to the dorsal accessory calyx.
| S-EPMC8252886 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Effect of Mef2 knockdown in Drosophila fat body
2016-10-13 | GSE80318 | GEO
Project description:The mushroom bodies are bilaterally arranged structures in the protocerebrum of Drosophila and most other insect species. Mutants with altered mushroom body structure have been instrumental not only in establishing their role in distinct behavioral functions but also in identifying the molecular pathways that control mushroom body development. The mushroom body miniature(1) (mbm(1)) mutation results in grossly reduced mushroom bodies and odor learning deficits in females. With a survey of genomic rescue constructs, we have pinpointed mbm(1) to a single transcription unit and identified a single nucleotide exchange in the 5' untranslated region of the corresponding transcript resulting in a reduced expression of the protein. The most obvious feature of the Mbm protein is a pair of C(2)HC zinc fingers, implicating a function of the protein in binding nucleic acids. Immunohistochemical analysis shows that expression of the Mbm protein is not restricted to the mushroom bodies. BrdUrd labeling experiments indicate a function of Mbm in neuronal precursor cell proliferation.
| S-EPMC521146 | biostudies-literature
Project description:NADPH oxidase produces reactive oxygen species (ROS). Drosophila melanogaster has two homologs of NADPH oxidase, dNox and dDuox, with functions that remain unclear in vivo. To clarify these functions, two independent transgenic fly lines expressing dsRNA targeted for different portions of dDuox mRNA were used. In both flies, en-GAL4> UAS-dDuoxIR(976-1145) and en-GAL4> UAS-dDuoxIR(370-518), in which dDuox was knocked down selectively in the posterior area of the wing disc, the posterior compartment of the adult wings became paler and more fragile with wing veins that were indistinct by comparison with the anterior one. Fluorescence staining of the en-GAL4> UAS-dDuoxIR(976-1145) adult wings revealed that the ROS concentration in the posterior compartment was significantly lower than that in the anterior compartment. Moreover, in these flies, the posterior compartment of the wing imaginal disc showed a greater number of apoptotic cells detected by immunostaining with anti-cleaved caspase-3 antibody than those in the anterior compartment. Respective knockdown of tyrosine hydroxylase or dopa-decarboxylase showed paler wing blades in the posterior compartment similar to the phenotype of dDuox-knockdown files. Along with this observation, analysis of the catecholic and dityrosine components in the wings of adult flies proved that dDuox plays important roles in the stabilization of the cuticle structure of the wings via tyrosine cross-linking, the sclerotization and melanization processes possibly through ROS production. These dDuox-knockdown fly lines would be useful tools for further studying dDuox functions during the development of Drosophila.
| S-EPMC3190906 | biostudies-literature