@article {65107, title = {A neuronal pathway that commands deceleration in Drosophila larval light-avoidance.}, journal = {Neuroscience Bulletin}, volume = {35}, year = {2019}, month = {2019 Dec 1}, abstract = {

When facing a sudden danger or aversive condition while engaged in on-going forward motion, animals transiently slow down and make a turn to escape. The neural mechanisms underlying stimulation-induced deceleration in avoidance behavior are largely unknown. Here, we report that in Drosophila larvae, light-induced deceleration was commanded by a continuous neural pathway that included prothoracicotropic hormone neurons, eclosion hormone neurons, and tyrosine decarboxylase 2 motor neurons (the PET pathway). Inhibiting neurons in the PET pathway led to defects in light-avoidance due to insufficient deceleration and head casting. On the other hand, activation of PET pathway neurons specifically caused immediate deceleration in larval locomotion. Our findings reveal a neural substrate for the emergent deceleration response and provide a new understanding of the relationship between behavioral modules in animal avoidance responses.

}, issn = {1995-8218}, doi = {10.1007/s12264-019-00349-w}, author = {Gong, Caixia and Ouyang, Zhenhuan and Zhao, Weiqiao and Wang, Jie and Li, Kun and Zhou, Peipei and Zhao, Ting and Zheng, Nenggan and Gong, Zhefeng} } @article {1225, title = {Differential roles of the fan-shaped body and the ellipsoid body in Drosophila visual pattern memory.}, journal = {Learning \& Memory}, volume = {16}, year = {2009}, month = {2009 Apr 23}, pages = {289-95}, abstract = {

The central complex is a prominent structure in the Drosophila brain. Visual learning experiments in the flight simulator, with flies with genetically altered brains, revealed that two groups of horizontal neurons in one of its substructures, the fan-shaped body, were required for Drosophila visual pattern memory. However, little is known about the role of other components of the central complex for visual pattern memory. Here we show that a small set of neurons in the ellipsoid body, which is another substructure of the central complex and connected to the fan-shaped body, is also required for visual pattern memory. Localized expression of rutabaga adenylyl cyclase in either the fan-shaped body or the ellipsoid body is sufficient to rescue the memory defect of the rut(2080) mutant. We then performed RNA interference of rutabaga in either structure and found that they both were required for visual pattern memory. Additionally, we tested the above rescued flies under several visual pattern parameters, such as size, contour orientation, and vertical compactness, and revealed differential roles of the fan-shaped body and the ellipsoid body for visual pattern memory. Our study defines a complex neural circuit in the central complex for Drosophila visual pattern memory.

}, keywords = {Adenylate Cyclase, Animal, Animals, Behavior, Brain, Classical, Conditioning, Discrimination (Psychology), Drosophila, Drosophila Proteins, Gene Expression, Genetically Modified, Memory, Mutation, Neurons, Orientation, Pattern Recognition, Photic Stimulation, RNA Interference, Visual, Visual Pathways, Visual Perception}, issn = {1549-5485}, doi = {10.1101/lm.1331809}, author = {Pan, Yufeng and Zhou, Yanqiong and Guo, Chao and Gong, Haiyun and Gong, Zhefeng and Liu, Li} } @article {1226, title = {Morphological characterization of single fan-shaped body neurons in Drosophila melanogaster.}, journal = {Cell and Tissue Research}, volume = {336}, year = {2009}, month = {2009 Jun}, pages = {509-19}, abstract = {

The fan-shaped body is the largest substructure of the central complex in Drosophila melanogaster. Two groups of large-field neurons that innervate the fan-shaped body, viz., F1 and F5 neurons, have recently been found to be involved in visual pattern memory for "contour orientation" and "elevation" in a rut-dependent manner. The F5 neurons have been found to be responsible for the parameter "elevation" in a for-dependent manner. We have shown here that the F1 neuron also affects visual memory for "contour orientation" in a for-dependent way. With the help of Gal4/UAS and FLP-out techniques, we have characterized the morphological features of these two groups of neurons at single neuron resolution. We have observed that F1 or F5 neurons are groups of isomorphic individual neurons. Single F1 neurons have three main arborization regions: one in the first layer of the fan-shaped body, one in the ventral body, and another in the inferior medial protocerebrum. Single F5 neurons have two arborization regions: one in the fifth layer of the fan-shaped body and the other in the superior medial protocerebrum. The polarity of the F1 and F5 neurons has been studied with the Syt-GFP marker. Our results indicate the existence of presynaptic sites of both F1 and F5 neurons located in the fan-shaped body and postsynaptic sites outside of the fan-shaped body.

}, keywords = {Animals, Cell Shape, Drosophila melanogaster, Memory, Neurons, Pattern Recognition, Presynaptic Terminals, Visual}, issn = {1432-0878}, doi = {10.1007/s00441-009-0781-2}, author = {Li, Weizhe and Pan, Yufeng and Wang, Zhipeng and Gong, Haiyun and Gong, Zhefeng and Liu, Li} } @article {1227, title = {Visual pattern memory requires foraging function in the central complex of Drosophila.}, journal = {Learning \& Memory}, volume = {15}, year = {2008}, month = {2008 Mar}, pages = {133-42}, abstract = {

The role of the foraging (for) gene, which encodes a cyclic guanosine-3{\textquoteright},5{\textquoteright}-monophosphate (cGMP)-dependent protein kinase (PKG), in food-search behavior in Drosophila has been intensively studied. However, its functions in other complex behaviors have not been well-characterized. Here, we show experimentally in Drosophila that the for gene is required in the operant visual learning paradigm. Visual pattern memory was normal in a natural variant rover (for(R)) but was impaired in another natural variant sitter (for(S)), which has a lower PKG level. Memory defects in for(S) flies could be rescued by either constitutive or adult-limited expression of for in the fan-shaped body. Interestingly, we showed that such rescue also occurred when for was expressed in the ellipsoid body. Additionally, expression of for in the fifth layer of the fan-shaped body restored sufficient memory for the pattern parameter "elevation" but not for "contour orientation," whereas expression of for in the ellipsoid body restored sufficient memory for both parameters. Our study defines a Drosophila model for further understanding the role of cGMP-PKG signaling in associative learning/memory and the neural circuit underlying this for-dependent visual pattern memory.

}, keywords = {Alleles, Animals, Brain, Conditioning, Cyclic GMP-Dependent Protein Kinases, Drosophila melanogaster, Drosophila Proteins, Gene Library, Genetically Modified, Insertional, Isoenzymes, Memory, Mutagenesis, Nerve Tissue Proteins, Operant, Pattern Recognition, Recombinant Fusion Proteins, Short-Term, Visual}, issn = {1549-5485}, doi = {10.1101/lm.873008}, author = {Wang, Zhipeng and Pan, Yufeng and Li, Weizhe and Jiang, Huoqing and Chatzimanolis, Lazaros and Chang, Jianhong and Gong, Zhefeng and Liu, Li} }