@article {65723, title = {A systematic nomenclature for the Drosophila ventral nerve cord.}, journal = {Neuron}, volume = {107}, year = {2020}, month = {2020 Sep 14}, pages = {1071-79}, abstract = {

Drosophila melanogaster is an established model for neuroscience research with relevance in biology and medicine. Until recently, research on the Drosophila brain was hindered by the lack of a complete and uniform nomenclature. Recognizing this, Ito et\ al. (2014) produced an authoritative nomenclature for the adult insect brain, using Drosophila as the reference. Here, we extend this nomenclature to the adult thoracic and abdominal neuromeres, the ventral nerve cord (VNC), to provide an anatomical description of this major component of the Drosophila nervous system. The VNC is the locus for the reception and integration of sensory information and involved in generating most of the locomotor actions that underlie fly behaviors. The aim is to create a nomenclature, definitions, and spatial boundaries for the Drosophila VNC that are consistent with other insects. The work establishes an anatomical framework that provides a powerful tool for analyzing the functional organization of the VNC.

}, issn = {1097-4199}, doi = {10.1016/j.neuron.2020.08.005}, author = {Court, Robert and Namiki, Shigehiro and Armstrong, J Douglas and Borner, Jana and Card, Gwyneth and Costa, Marta and Dickinson, Michael and Duch, Carsten and Korff, Wyatt and Mann, Richard and Merritt, David and Murphey, Rod K and Seeds, Andrew M and Shirangi, Troy and Simpson, Julie H and Truman, James W and Tuthill, John C and Williams, Darren W and Shepherd, David} } @article {65168, title = {Developmental organization of central neurons in the adult Drosophila ventral nervous system.}, journal = {Journal of Comparative Neurology}, volume = {527}, year = {2019}, month = {2019 Oct 15}, pages = {2573-2598}, abstract = {

We have used MARCM to reveal the adult morphology of the post embryonically produced neurons in the thoracic neuromeres of the Drosophila VNS. The work builds on previous studies of the origins of the adult VNS neurons to describe the clonal organization of the adult VNS. We present data for 58 of 66 postembryonic thoracic lineages, excluding the motor neuron producing lineages (15 and 24) which have been described elsewhere. MARCM labels entire lineages but where both A and B hemilineages survive (e.g., lineages 19, 12, 13, 6, 1, 3, 8, and 11), the two hemilineages can be discriminated and we have described each hemilineage separately. Hemilineage morphology is described in relation to the known functional domains of the VNS neuropil and based on the anatomy we are able to assign broad functional roles for each hemilineage. The data show that in a thoracic hemineuromere, 16 hemilineages are primarily involved in controlling leg movements and walking, 9 are involved in the control of wing movements, and 10 interface between both leg and wing control. The data provide a baseline of understanding of the functional organization of the adult Drosophila VNS. By understanding the morphological organization of these neurons, we can begin to define and test the rules by which neuronal circuits are assembled during development and understand the functional logic and evolution of neuronal networks.

}, issn = {1096-9861}, doi = {10.1002/cne.24690}, author = {Shepherd, David and Sahota, Virender and Court, Robert and Williams, Darren W and Truman, James W} } @article {48657, title = {A systematic nomenclature for the Drosophila ventral nervous system.}, journal = {bioRxiv}, year = {2017}, month = {2017 Apr 26}, abstract = {

Insect nervous systems are proven and powerful model systems for neuroscience research with wide relevance in biology and medicine. However, descriptions of insect brains have suffered from a lack of a complete and uniform nomenclature. Recognising this problem the Insect Brain Name Working Group produced the first agreed hierarchical nomenclature system for the adult insect brain, using Drosophila melanogaster as the reference framework, with other insect taxa considered to ensure greater consistency and expandability (Ito et al., 2014). Ito et al. (2014) purposely focused on the gnathal regions that account for approximately 50\% of the adult CNS. We extend this nomenclature system to the sub-gnathal regions of the adult Drosophila nervous system to provide a nomenclature of the so-called ventral nervous system (VNS), which includes the thoracic and abdominal neuromeres that was not included in the original work and contains the neurons that play critical roles underpinning most fly behaviours.

}, doi = {10.1101/122952}, author = {Court, Robert Christopher and Armstrong, James Douglas and Borner, Jana and Card, Gwyneth M and Costa, Marta and Dickinson, Michael H and Duch, Carsten and Korff, Wyatt and Mann, Richard S and Merritt, David and Murphey, Rodney K and Namiki, Shigehiro and Seeds, Andrew M and Shepherd, David and Shirangi, Troy R and Simpson, Julie H and Truman, James W and Tuthill, John C and Williams, Darren W} } @article {5311, title = {The BTB/POZ zinc finger protein Broad-Z3 promotes dendritic outgrowth during metamorphic remodeling of the peripheral stretch receptor dbd.}, journal = {Neural Development}, volume = {6}, year = {2011}, month = {2011 Dec 12}, pages = {39}, abstract = {

Various members of the family of BTB/POZ zinc-finger transcription factors influence patterns of dendritic branching. One such member, Broad, is notable because its BrZ3 isoform is widely expressed in Drosophila in immature neurons around the time of arbor outgrowth. We used the metamorphic remodeling of an identified sensory neuron, the dorsal bipolar dendrite sensory neuron (dbd), to examine the effects of BrZ3 expression on the extent and pattern of dendrite growth during metamorphosis.

}, keywords = {Animals, Biological, Dendrites, Drosophila, Drosophila Proteins, Growth Cones, Mechanoreceptors, Metamorphosis, Neurons, Transcription Factors, Zinc Fingers}, issn = {1749-8104}, doi = {10.1186/1749-8104-6-39}, author = {Scott, Janet A and Williams, Darren W and Truman, James W} } @article {2439, title = {Role of Notch signaling in establishing the hemilineages of secondary neurons in Drosophila melanogaster.}, journal = {Development}, volume = {137}, year = {2010}, month = {2010 Jan}, pages = {53-61}, abstract = {

The secondary neurons generated in the thoracic central nervous system of Drosophila arise from a hemisegmental set of 25 neuronal stem cells, the neuroblasts (NBs). Each NB undergoes repeated asymmetric divisions to produce a series of smaller ganglion mother cells (GMCs), which typically divide once to form two daughter neurons. We find that the two daughters of the GMC consistently have distinct fates. Using both loss-of-function and gain-of-function approaches, we examined the role of Notch signaling in establishing neuronal fates within all of the thoracic secondary lineages. In all cases, the {\textquoteright}A{\textquoteright} (Notch(ON)) sibling assumes one fate and the {\textquoteright}B{\textquoteright} (Notch(OFF)) sibling assumes another, and this relationship holds throughout the neurogenic period, resulting in two major neuronal classes: the A and B hemilineages. Apparent monotypic lineages typically result from the death of one sibling throughout the lineage, resulting in a single, surviving hemilineage. Projection neurons are predominantly from the B hemilineages, whereas local interneurons are typically from A hemilineages. Although sibling fate is dependent on Notch signaling, it is not necessarily dependent on numb, a gene classically involved in biasing Notch activation. When Numb was removed at the start of larval neurogenesis, both A and B hemilineages were still generated, but by the start of the third larval instar, the removal of Numb resulted in all neurons assuming the A fate. The need for Numb to direct Notch signaling correlated with a decrease in NB cell cycle time and may be a means for coping with multiple sibling pairs simultaneously undergoing fate decisions.

}, keywords = {Animals, Cell Lineage, Central Nervous System, Drosophila melanogaster, Drosophila Proteins, Immunohistochemistry, Neurons, Notch, Receptors, Signal Transduction, Stem Cells, Thorax}, issn = {1477-9129}, doi = {10.1242/dev.041749}, author = {Truman, James W and Moats, Wanda and Altman, Janet and Marin, Elizabeth C and Williams, Darren W} } @article {2495, title = {Temporal patterns of broad isoform expression during the development of neuronal lineages in Drosophila.}, journal = {Neural Development}, volume = {4}, year = {2009}, month = {2009 Nov 2}, pages = {39}, abstract = {

During the development of the central nervous system (CNS) of Drosophila, neuronal stem cells, the neuroblasts (NBs), first generate a set of highly diverse neurons, the primary neurons that mature to control larval behavior, and then more homogeneous sets of neurons that show delayed maturation and are primarily used in the adult. These latter, {\textquoteright}secondary{\textquoteright} neurons show a complex pattern of expression of broad, which encodes a transcription factor usually associated with metamorphosis, where it acts as a key regulator in the transitions from larva and pupa.

}, keywords = {Animals, Biological, Drosophila, Drosophila Proteins, Genetically Modified, Interneurons, Metamorphosis, Motor Neurons, Mushroom Bodies, Neurites, Neurons, Newborn, Nonmammalian, Optic Lobe, Protein Isoforms, Thorax, Time Factors, Transcription Factors}, issn = {1749-8104}, doi = {10.1186/1749-8104-4-39}, author = {Zhou, Baohua and Williams, Darren W and Altman, Janet and Riddiford, Lynn M and Truman, James W} } @article {2444, title = {Local caspase activity directs engulfment of dendrites during pruning.}, journal = {Nature Neuroscience}, volume = {9}, year = {2006}, month = {2006 Oct}, pages = {1234-6}, abstract = {

Pruning is important for sculpting neural circuits, as it removes excessive or inaccurate projections. Here we show that the removal of sensory neuron dendrites during pruning in Drosophila melanogaster is directed by local caspase activity. Suppressing caspase activity prevented dendrite removal, whereas a global activation of caspases within a neuron caused cell death. A new genetically encoded caspase probe revealed that caspase activity is confined to the degenerating dendrites of pruning neurons.

}, keywords = {Afferent, Analysis of Variance, Animals, Apoptosis, Caspases, Dendrites, Drosophila melanogaster, Drosophila Proteins, Enzyme Activation, Enzyme Inhibitors, Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Ganglia, Genetically Modified, Neurons, Spinal, Time Factors}, issn = {1097-6256}, doi = {10.1038/nn1774}, author = {Williams, Darren W and Kondo, Shu and Krzyzanowska, Agnieszka and Hiromi, Yasushi and Truman, James W} } @article {2448, title = {Cellular mechanisms of dendrite pruning in Drosophila: insights from in vivo time-lapse of remodeling dendritic arborizing sensory neurons.}, journal = {Development}, volume = {132}, year = {2005}, month = {2005 Aug}, pages = {3631-42}, abstract = {

Regressive events that refine exuberant or inaccurate connections are critical in neuronal development. We used multi-photon, time-lapse imaging to examine how dendrites of Drosophila dendritic arborizing (da) sensory neurons are eliminated during early metamorphosis, and how intrinsic and extrinsic cellular mechanisms control this deconstruction. Removal of the larval dendritic arbor involves two mechanisms: local degeneration and branch retraction. In local degeneration, major branch severing events entail focal disruption of the microtubule cytoskeleton, followed by thinning of the disrupted region, severing and fragmentation. Retraction was observed at distal tips of branches and in proximal stumps after severing events. The pruning program of da neuron dendrites is steroid induced; cell-autonomous dominant-negative inhibition of steroid action blocks local degeneration, although retraction events still occur. Our data suggest that steroid-induced changes in the epidermis may contribute to dendritic retraction. Finally, we find that phagocytic blood cells not only engulf neuronal debris but also attack and sever intact branches that show signs of destabilization.

}, keywords = {Abdomen, Afferent, Animals, Biological, Cytoskeleton, Dendrites, Drosophila melanogaster, Fluorescent Dyes, Metamorphosis, Microscopy, Neurons, Phagocytes, Receptors, Steroid, Video}, issn = {0950-1991}, doi = {10.1242/dev.01928}, author = {Williams, Darren W and Truman, James W} } @article {2449, title = {Developmental architecture of adult-specific lineages in the ventral CNS of Drosophila.}, journal = {Development}, volume = {131}, year = {2004}, month = {2004 Oct}, pages = {5167-84}, abstract = {

In Drosophila most thoracic neuroblasts have two neurogenic periods: an initial brief period during embryogenesis and a second prolonged phase during larval growth. This study focuses on the adult-specific neurons that are born primarily during the second phase of neurogenesis. The fasciculated neurites arising from each cluster of adult-specific neurons express the cell-adhesion protein Neurotactin and they make a complex scaffold of neurite bundles within the thoracic neuropils. Using MARCM clones, we identified the 24 lineages that make up the scaffold of a thoracic hemineuromere. Unlike the early-born neurons that are strikingly diverse in both form and function, the adult specific cells in a given lineage are remarkably similar and typically project to only one or two initial targets, which appear to be the bundled neurites from other lineages. Correlated changes in the contacts between the lineages in different segments suggest that these initial contacts have functional significance in terms of future synaptic partners. This paper provides an overall view of the initial connections that eventually lead to the complex connectivity of the bulk of the thoracic neurons.

}, keywords = {Animals, Central Nervous System, Drosophila, Drosophila Proteins, Larva, Membrane Glycoproteins}, issn = {0950-1991}, doi = {10.1242/dev.01371}, author = {Truman, James W and Schuppe, Hansj{\"u}rgen and Shepherd, David and Williams, Darren W} }