Abstract
The central complex of Drosophila melanogaster plays important functions in various behaviors, such as visual and olfactory memory, visual orientation, sleep, and movement control. However little is known about the genes regulating the development of the central complex. Here we report that a mutant gene affecting central complex morphology, cbd (central brain defect), was mapped to ten-a, a type II trans-membrane protein coding gene. Down-regulation of ten-a in pan-neural cells contributed to abnormal morphology of central complex. Over-expression of ten-a by C767-Gal4 was able to partially restore the abnormal central complex morphology in the cbd mutant. Tracking the development of FB primordia revealed that C767-Gal4 labeled interhemispheric junction that separated fan-shaped body precursors at larval stage withdrew to allow the fusion of the precursors. While the C767-Gal4 labeled structure did not withdraw properly and detached from FB primordia, the two fan-shaped body precursors failed to fuse in the cbd mutant. We propose that the withdrawal of C767-Gal4 labeled structure is related to the formation of the fan-shaped body. Our result revealed the function of ten-a in central brain development, and possible cellular mechanism underlying Drosophila fan-shaped body formation.
Highlights
The central complex is an interconnected neuropil structure across and along the sagittal mid-section of the fly brain and includes the protocerebral bridge (PB), the fan-shaped body (FB), the paired nodule (NO), and the ellipsoid body (EB)
We found that the Drosophila central brain morphological mutant cbd is ten-a, a member of the teneurin family
Ten-a is required for fusion of the fan-shaped body precursors, before the formation of the complete normal FB
Summary
The central complex is an interconnected neuropil structure across and along the sagittal mid-section of the fly brain and includes the protocerebral bridge (PB), the fan-shaped body (FB), the paired nodule (NO), and the ellipsoid body (EB). Mbm was found to be a transcription factor, a nucleic acid-binding zinc finger protein [13], while ceb was reported to encode Neuroglian, a cell adhesion molecule that is crucial for axonal development, synapse formation and female receptivity [14,15,16,17]. As to nob, it interacted with drl at the interhemispheric junction to affect the formation of protocerebral bridge [18]. Our results might reveal the molecular and cellular mechanism of Drosophila central complex development
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