Detailed analysis of leucokinin-expressing neurons and their candidate functions in the Drosophila nervous system
Cell Tissue Res. 2009-11-26; 339(2): 321-336
DOI: 10.1007/s00441-009-0890-y
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1. Cell Tissue Res. 2010 Feb;339(2):321-36. doi: 10.1007/s00441-009-0890-y. Epub
2009 Nov 26.
Detailed analysis of leucokinin-expressing neurons and their candidate functions
in the Drosophila nervous system.
de Haro M(1), Al-Ramahi I, Benito-Sipos J, López-Arias B, Dorado B, Veenstra JA,
Herrero P.
Author information:
(1)Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine,
Houston, Texas, USA.
The distribution of leucokinin (LK) neurons in the central nervous system (CNS)
of Drosophila melanogaster was described by immunolabelling many years ago.
However, no detailed underlying information of the input or output connections of
their neurites was then available. Here, we provide a more accurate morphological
description by employing a novel LK-specific GAL4 line that recapitulates LK
expression. In order to analyse the possible afferent and efferent neural
candidates of LK neurons, we used this lk-GAL4 line together with other CNS-Gal4
lines, combined with antisera against various neuropeptides or neurotransmitters.
We found four kinds of LK neurons in the brain. (1) The lateral horn neurons
connect the antennal glomerula to the mushroom bodies. (2) The suboesophageal
neurons connect the gustatory receptors to the suboesophageal ganglia and ventral
nerve cord. (3) The anterior neurons innervate the corpus cardiacum of the ring
gland but LK expression is surprisingly not detectable from the third instar
onwards in these neurons. (4) A set of abdominal ganglion neurons connect to the
dorsal median tract in larvae and send their axons to a segmental muscle 8. Thus,
the methods employed in our study can be used to identify individual
neuropeptidergic neurons and thereby characterize functional cues or
developmental transformations in their differentiation.
DOI: 10.1007/s00441-009-0890-y
PMID: 19941006 [Indexed for MEDLINE]