A Connectome of the Male Drosophila Ventral Nerve Cord
Open accessAbstract
Abstract Animal behavior is principally expressed through neural control of muscles. Therefore understanding how the brain controls behavior requires mapping neuronal circuits all the way to motor neurons. We have previously established technology to collect large-volume electron microscopy data sets of neural tissue and fully reconstruct the morphology of the neurons and their chemical synaptic connections throughout the volume. Using these tools we generated a dense wiring diagram, or connectome, for a large portion of the Drosophila central brain. However, in most animals, including the fly, the majority of motor neurons are located outside the brain in a neural center closer to the body, i.e. the mammalian spinal cord or insect ventral nerve cord (VNC). In this paper, we extend our effort to map full neural circuits for behavior by generating a connectome of the VNC of a male fly.
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DNp28 projects to the intermediate, haltere, wing, and neck tectula of the ventral nerve cord.
“DNp28 projects to the intermediate, haltere, wing, and neck tectula of the ventral nerve cord62,71.”
From Neuronal wiring diagram of an adult brain (2023) · cites this paper as [62]
Approximately 20% of descending neurons (DNs) project unilaterally and form output synapses in all three leg neuromeres.
“approximately 20% of DNs project unilaterally and form output synapses in all three leg neuromeres”
From Fine-grained descending control of steering in walking Drosophila (2024) · cites this paper as [28]
Drosophila is the only limbed animal with a near-complete connectome.
“it is the only limbed animal with a near-complete connectome23–27”
From Fine-grained descending control of steering in walking <i>Drosophila</i> (2023) · cites this paper as [26]
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Self-citation
- Authors
- Takemura, S.-Y., Hayworth, K. J., Huang, G. B., Januszewski, M., Lu, Z., Marin, E. C., Preibisch, S., Xu, C. S., Bogovic, J., Champion, A. S., Cheong, H. S., Costa, M., Eichler, K., Katz, W., Knecht, C., Li, F., Morris, B. J., Ordish, C., Rivlin, P. K., Schlegel, P., Shinomiya, K., Stürner, T., Zhao, T., Badalamente, G., Bailey, D., Brooks, P., Canino, B. S., Clements, J., Cook, M., Duclos, O., Dunne, C. R., Fairbanks, K., Fang, S., Finley-May, S., Francis, A., George, R., Gkantia, M., Harrington, K., Hopkins, G. P., Hsu, J., Hubbard, P. M., Javier, A., Kainmueller, D., Korff, W., Kovalyak, J., Krzemiński, D., Lauchie, S. A., Lohff, A., Maldonado, C., Manley, E. A., Mooney, C., Neace, E., Nichols, M., Ogundeyi, O., Okeoma, N., Paterson, T., Phillips, E., Phillips, E. M., Ribeiro, C., Ryan, S. M., Rymer, J. T., Scott, A. K., Scott, A. L., Shepherd, D., Shinomiya, A., Smith, C., Smith, N., Suleiman, A., Takemura, S., Talebi, I., Tamimi, I. F., Trautman, E. T., Umayam, L., Walsh, J. J., Yang, T., Rubin, G. M., Scheffer, L. K., Funke, J., Saalfeld, S., Hess, H. F., Plaza, S. M., Card, G. M., Jefferis, G. S., & Berg, S.
- Affiliations
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute (US)
- University of Cambridge (GB)
- MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology (GB)
- University of Southampton (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Card, Gwyneth M
- Jefferis, Gregory SXE
- Berg, Stuart
- ORCID
- Takemura, Shin-ya
- Hayworth, Kenneth J
- Huang, Gary B
- Januszewski, Michal
- Lu, Zhiyuan
- Marin, Elizabeth C
- Preibisch, Stephan
- Xu, C Shan
- Bogovic, John
- Champion, Andrew S
- Cheong, Han SJ
- Costa, Marta
- Eichler, Katharina
- Katz, William
- Knecht, Christopher
- Li, Feng
- Morris, Billy J
- Ordish, Christopher
- Rivlin, Patricia K
- Schlegel, Philipp
- Shinomiya, Kazunori
- Stürner, Tomke
- Zhao, Ting
- Badalamente, Griffin
- Bailey, Dennis
- Brooks, Paul
- Canino, Brandon S
- Clements, Jody
- Cook, Michael
- Duclos, Octave
- Dunne, Christopher R
- Fairbanks, Kelli
- Fang, Siqi
- Finley-May, Samantha
- Francis, Audrey
- George, Reed
- Gkantia, Marina
- Harrington, Kyle
- Hopkins, Gary Patrick
- Hsu, Joseph
- Hubbard, Philip M
- Javier, Alexandre
- Kainmueller, Dagmar
- Korff, Wyatt
- Kovalyak, Julie
- Krzemiński, Dominik
- Lauchie, Shirley A
- Lohff, Alanna
- Maldonado, Charli
- Manley, Emily A
- Mooney, Caroline
- Neace, Erika
- Ogundeyi, Omotara
- Okeoma, Nneoma
- Paterson, Tyler
- Phillips, Elliott
- Phillips, Emily M
- Ribeiro, Caitlin
- Ryan, Sean M
- Rymer, Jon Thomson
- Scott, Anne K
- Scott, Ashley L
- Shepherd, David
- Shinomiya, Aya
- Smith, Claire
- Smith, Natalie
- Suleiman, Alia
- Takemura, Satoko
- Talebi, Iris
- Tamimi, Imaan FM
- Trautman, Eric T
- Umayam, Lowell
- Walsh, John J
- Yang, Tansy
- Rubin, Gerald M
- Scheffer, Louis K
- Funke, Jan
- Saalfeld, Stephan
- Hess, Harald F
- Plaza, Stephen M
- Card, Gwyneth M
- Jefferis, Gregory SXE
- Berg, Stuart
- Venue
- bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
- Publisher
- openRxiv
- Published
- 2023-06-06
- OpenAlex
- W4379522557
- Cited by
- 74
- References
- 25
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 23 · 2024: 35 · 2023: 11 · 2020: 1
- Type
- posted content
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
- MDC Repository (Max-Delbrueck-Center for Molecular Medicine) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute
- Wellcome Trust (221300/Z/20/Z, 220343/Z/20/Z)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurobiology and Insect Physiology Research
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Biophysics › Cell Image Analysis Techniques
- Keywords
- ventral nerve cord, Drosophila connectome, neuronal circuit mapping, motor neurons, synaptic connectivity, electron microscopy reconstruction, neural circuits, insect nervous system
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