Singh, A.P., Das, R.N., Rao, G., Aggarwal, A., Diegelmann, S., Evers, J.F., Karandikar, H., Landgraf, M., Rodrigues, V., Vijayraghavan, K. (2013). Sensory neuron-derived eph regulates glomerular arbors and modulatory function of a central serotonergic neuron.  PLoS Genet. 9(4): e1003452.

FBrf0246518

Research paper

Olfactory sensory neurons connect to the antennal lobe of the fly to create the primary units for processing odor cues, the glomeruli. Unique amongst antennal-lobe neurons is an identified wide-field serotonergic neuron, the contralaterally-projecting, serotonin-immunoreactive deutocerebral neuron (CSDn). The CSDn spreads its termini all over the contralateral antennal lobe, suggesting a diffuse neuromodulatory role. A closer examination, however, reveals a restricted pattern of the CSDn arborization in some glomeruli. We show that sensory neuron-derived Eph interacts with Ephrin in the CSDn, to regulate these arborizations. Behavioural analysis of animals with altered Eph-ephrin signaling and with consequent arborization defects suggests that neuromodulation requires local glomerular-specific patterning of the CSDn termini. Our results show the importance of developmental regulation of terminal arborization of even the diffuse modulatory neurons to allow them to route sensory-inputs according to the behavioural contexts.

PMC3630106 (PMC) (EuropePMC)