Camilla Larsen

Glia Engulf Degenerating Axons during Developmental Axon Pruning

Developmental axon pruning is widely used in constructing the nervous system. Accordingly, diverse mechanisms are likely employed for various forms of axon pruning. In the Drosophila mushroom bodies (MB), gamma neurons initially extend axon branches into both the dorsal and medial MB axon lobes in larvae. Through a well-orchestrated set of developmental events during metamorphosis, axon branches to both lobes degenerate prior to the formation of adult connections. Here, we analyze ultrastructural changes underlying axon pruning by using a genetically encoded electron microscopic (EM) marker to selectively label gamma neurons. By inhibiting axon pruning in combination with the use of this EM marker, we demonstrate a causal link between observed cellular events and axon pruning. These events include changes in axon ultrastructure, synaptic degeneration, and engulfment of degenerating axon fragments by glia for their subsequent breakdown via the endosomal-lysosomal pathway. Interestingly, glia selectively invade MB axon lobes at the onset of metamorphosis; this increase in cell number is independent of axon fragmentation. Our study reveals a key role for glia in the removal of axon fragments during developmental axon pruning.

A new developmental compartment in the forebrain regulated by Lunatic fringe

We identified a compartment in the avian prosencephalon, whose cell-lineage-restricted borders enclose about one-third of the early prosencephalic vesicle, defining a region that later narrows to form the zona limitans intrathalamica (zli). Lunatic fringe (L-fng) is expressed in domains flanking the compartment, delineating its anterior and posterior borders; ectopic L-fng expression is sufficient to direct cells to sort out of the zli, and can also disrupt the borders, preventing zli formation. The lack of similarly oriented fringe borders elsewhere in the prosencephalon indicates that the mechanism for forming the zli compartment differs from that for the proposed segmental subdivisions of the forebrain, prosomeres.

Segment boundary formation in Drosophila embryos

In Drosophila embryos, segment boundaries form at the posterior edge of each stripe of engrailed expression. We have used an HRP-CD2 transgene to follow by transmission electron microscopy the cell shape changes that accompany boundary formation. The first change is a loosening of cell contact at the apical side of cells on either side of the incipient boundary. Then, the engrailed-expressing cells flanking the boundary undergo apical constriction, move inwards and adopt a bottle morphology. Eventually, grooves regress, first on the ventral side, then laterally. We noted that groove formation and regression are contemporaneous with germ band retraction and shortening, respectively, suggesting that these rearrangements could also contribute to groove morphology. The cellular changes accompanying groove formation require that Hedgehog signalling be activated, and, as a result, a target of Ci expressed, at the posterior of each boundary (obvious targets like stripe and rhomboid appear not to be involved). In addition, Engrailed must be expressed at the anterior side of each boundary, even if Hedgehog signalling is artificially maintained. Thus, there are distinct genetic requirements on either side of the boundary. In addition, Wingless signalling at the anterior of the domains of engrailed (and hedgehog) expression represses groove formation and thus ensures that segment boundaries form only at the posterior.

Cell mixing between the embryonic midbrain and hindbrain

Segmentation is a mechanism that controls spatial organization along the anteroposterior axis of the neural tube and is particularly well characterized for the hindbrain region [1]. The generation of distinct and regionally specific structures from each rhombomere is achieved with the almost complete absence of cell mixing between neighboring rhombomeres [2, 3]. Here, we have examined cell mingling at the isthmus, where Otx2-expressing midbrain cells abut Gbx2-expressing hindbrain cells [4]. The sharp line of demarcation between the two expression domains suggests that this interface would be a compartment boundary, with no intermixing of cells, but this has not been directly tested. We have used short-term reaggregation assays to compare the adhesive properties of cells derived from midbrain and anterior hindbrain and cell labeling in vivo directly to monitor cell behavior at the midbrain/hindbrain boundary. Interestingly, our data demonstrate that, in contrast to the rhombomeres, differential adhesion does not seem to operate between the midbrain and anterior hindbrain and that cells move between the two territories. We conclude that these two subdivisions are not maintained by cell lineage restriction but by cells maintaining labile fates.

Olfactory Neuromodulation of Motion Vision Circuitry in Drosophila

Summary It is well established that perception is largely multisensory [1]; often served by modalities such as touch, vision, and hearing that detect stimuli emanating from a common point in space [2, 3]; and processed by brain tissue maps that are spatially aligned [4]. However, the neural interactions among modalities that share no spatial stimulus domain yet are essential for robust perception within noisy environments remain uncharacterized. Drosophila melanogaster makes its living navigating food odor plumes. Odor acts to increase the strength of gaze-stabilizing optomotor reflexes [5] to keep the animal aligned within an invisible plume, facilitating odor localization in free flight [6–8]. Here, we investigate the cellular mechanism for cross-modal behavioral interactions. We characterize a wide-field motion-selective interneuron of the lobula plate that shares anatomical and physiological similarities with the “Hx” neuron identified in larger flies [9, 10]. Drosophila Hx exhibits cross-modal enhancement of visual responses by paired odor, and presynaptic inputs to the lobula plate are required for behavioral odor tracking but are not themselves the target of odor modulation, nor is the neighboring wide-field “HSE” neuron [11]. Octopaminergic neurons mediating increased visual responses upon flight initiation [12] also show odor-evoked calcium modulations and form connections with Hx dendrites. Finally, restoring synaptic vesicle trafficking within the octopaminergic neurons of animals carrying a null mutation for all aminergic signaling [13] is sufficient to restore odor-tracking behavior. These results are the first to demonstrate cellular mechanisms underlying visual-olfactory integration required for odor localization in fruit flies, which may be representative of adaptive multisensory interactions across taxa.

Neuronal fiber tracts connecting the brain and ventral nerve cord of the early Drosophila larva.

By using a combination of dye injections, clonal labeling, and molecular markers, we have reconstructed the axonal connections between brain and ventral nerve cord of the first‐instar Drosophila larva. Out of the approximately 1,400 neurons that form the early larval brain hemisphere, less than 50 cells have axons descending into the ventral nerve cord. Descending neurons fall into four topologically defined clusters located in the anteromedial, anterolateral, dorsal, and basoposterior brain, respectively. The anterolateral cluster represents a lineage derived from a single neuroblast. Terminations of descending neurons are almost exclusively found in the anterior part of the ventral nerve cord, represented by the gnathal and thoracic neuromeres. This region also contains small numbers of neurons with axons ascending into the brain. Terminals of the ascending axons are found in the same basal brain regions that also contain descending neurons. We have mapped ascending and descending axons to the previously described scaffold of longitudinal fiber tracts that interconnect different neuromeres of the ventral nerve cord and the brain. This work provides a structural framework for functional and genetic studies addressing the control of Drosophila larval behavior by brain circuits. J. Comp. Neurol. 515:427–440, 2009.

An efficient promoter trap for detection of patterned gene expression and subsequent functional analysis in Drosophila

Transposable elements have been used in Drosophila to detect gene expression, inactivate gene function, and induce ectopic expression or overexpression. We have combined all of these features in a single construct. A promoterless GAL4 cDNA is expressed when the construct inserts within a transcriptional unit, and GAL4 activates a GFP-encoding gene present in the same transposon. In a primary screen, patterned gene expression is detected as GFP fluorescence in the live progeny of dysgenic males. Many animals expressing GFP in distinct patterns can be recovered with relatively little effort. As expected, many insertions cause loss of function. After insertion at a genomic location, specific parts of the transposon can be excised by FLP recombinase, thus allowing it to induce conditional misexpression of the tagged gene. Therefore, both gain- and loss-of-function studies can be carried out with a single insertion in a gene identified by virtue of its expression pattern. Using this promoter trap approach, we have identified a group of cells that innervate the calyx of the mushroom body and could thus define a previously unrecognized memory circuit.

Specification and positioning of parasegment grooves in Drosophila

Developmental boundaries ensure that cells fated to participate in a particular structure are brought together or maintained at the appropriate locale within developing embryos. Parasegment grooves mark the position of boundaries that separate every segment of the Drosophila embryo into anterior and posterior compartments. Here, we dissect the genetic hierarchy that controls the formation of this morphological landmark. We report that primary segment polarity genes (engrailed, hedgehog and wingless) are not involved in specifying the position of parasegment grooves. Wingless signalling plays only a permissive role by triggering the formation of grooves at cellular interfaces defined by the ON/OFF state of expression of the earlier acting pair-rule genes eve and ftz. We suggest that the transcription factors encoded by these genes activate two programmes in parallel: a cell fate programme mediated by segment polarity genes and a boundary/epithelial integrity programme mediated by unknown target genes.

A Central Neural Pathway Controlling Odor Tracking in Drosophila

Chemotaxis is important for the survival of most animals. How the brain translates sensory input into motor output beyond higher olfactory processing centers is largely unknown. We describe a group of excitatory neurons, termed Odd neurons, which are important for Drosophila larval chemotaxis. Odd neurons receive synaptic input from projection neurons in the calyx of the mushroom body and project axons to the central brain. Functional imaging shows that some of the Odd neurons respond to odor. Larvae in which Odd neurons are silenced are less efficient at odor tracking than controls and sample the odor space more frequently. Larvae in which the excitability of Odd neurons is increased are better at odor intensity discrimination and odor tracking. Thus, the Odd neurons represent a distinct pathway that regulates the sensitivity of the olfactory system to odor concentrations, demonstrating that efficient chemotaxis depends on processing of odor strength downstream of higher olfactory centers.

Odd-skipped labels a group of distinct neurons associated with the mushroom body and optic lobe in the adult Drosophila brain

Olfactory processing has been intensively studied in Drosophila melanogaster. However, we still know little about the descending neural pathways from the higher order processing centers and how these connect with other neural circuits. Here we describe, in detail, the adult projections patterns that arise from a cluster of 78 neurons, defined by the expression of the Odd‐skipped transcription factor. We term these neurons Odd neurons. By using expression of genetically encoded axonal and dendritic markers, we show that a subset of the Odd neurons projects dendrites into the calyx of the mushroom body (MB) and axons into the inferior protocerebrum. We exclude the possibility that the Odd neurons are part of the well‐known Kenyon cells whose projections form the MB and conclude that the Odd neurons belong to a previously not described class of extrinsic MB neurons. In addition, three of the Odd neurons project into the lobula plate of the optic lobe, and two of these cells extend axons ipsi‐ and contralaterally in the brain. Anatomically, these cells do not resemble any previously described lobula plate tangential cells (LPTCs) in Drosophila. We show that the Odd neurons are predominantly cholinergic but also include a small number of γ‐aminobutyric acid (GABA)ergic neurons. Finally, we provide evidence that the Odd neurons are a hemilineage, suggesting they are born from a defined set of neuroblasts. Our anatomical analysis hints at the possibility that subgroups of Odd neurons could be involved in olfactory and visual processing. J. Comp. Neurol. 521:3716–3740, 2013.