Identification and analysis of a glutamatergic local interneuron lineage in the adult Drosophila olfactory system
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Background: The antennal lobe of Drosophila is perhaps one of the best understood neural circuits, because of its well-described anatomical and functional organization and ease of genetic manipulation. Olfactory lobe interneurons - key elements of information processing in this network - are thought to be generated by three identified central brain neuroblasts, all of which generate projection neurons. One of these neuroblasts, located lateral to the antennal lobe, also gives rise to a population of local interneurons, which can either be inhibitory (GABAergic) or excitatory (cholinergic). Recent studies of local interneuron number and diversity suggest that additional populations of this class of neurons exist in the antennal lobe. This implies that other, as yet unidentified, neuroblast lineages may contribute a substantial number of local interneurons to the olfactory circuitry of the antennal lobe. Results: We identified and characterized a novel glutamatergic local interneuron lineage in the Drosophila antennal lobe. We used MARCM (mosaic analysis with a repressible cell marker) and dual-MARCM clonal analysis techniques to identify this novel lineage unambiguously, and to characterize interneurons contained in the lineage in terms of structure, neurotransmitter identity, and development. We demonstrated the glutamatergic nature of these interneurons by immunohistochemistry and use of an enhancer-trap strain, which reports the expression of the Drosophila vesicular glutamate transporter (DVGLUT). We also analyzed the neuroanatomical features of these local interneurons at single-cell resolution, and documented the marked diversity in their antennal lobe glomerular innervation patterns. Finally, we tracked the development of these dLim-1 and Cut positive interneurons during larval and pupal stages. Conclusions: We have identified a novel neuroblast lineage that generates neurons in the antennal lobe of Drosophila. This lineage is remarkably homogeneous in three respects. All of the progeny are local interneurons, which are uniform in their glutamatergic neurotransmitter identity, and form oligoglomerular or multiglomerular innervations within the antennal lobe. The identification of this novel lineage and the elucidation of the innervation patterns of its local interneurons (at single cell resolution) provides a comprehensive cellular framework for emerging studies on the formation and function of potentially excitatory local interactions in the circuitry of the Drosophila antennal lobe.
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Previous immunohistochemistry work found no sign of GABA usage at 'ALv2' presynapses.
“Previous immunohistochemistry work61 found no sign of GABA usage at ‘ALv2’ presynapses”
From Neurotransmitter classification from electron microscopy images at synaptic sites in Drosophila melanogaster (2024) · cites this paper as [61]
The Results section (‘Gal4-OK371 labelling identifies a glutamatergic cell cluster in the antennal lobe’; page unavailable) reports that none of the labelled ventrolateral interneurons was GABA-immunopositive. That supports the absence of detected GABA in those cells, but the cited paper does not identify them as ‘ALv2’ or report an anti-GABA finding specifically at their presynapses. (LLM, conf=0.85)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredAntennal lobe local neurons are known to express acetylcholine, GABA, glutamate and various neuropeptides.
“They are known to express acetylcholine,63,189,190 GABA,62,89,151 glutamate61,89,104 and various neuropeptides transmitters.106”
From Neurotransmitter classification from electron microscopy images at synaptic sites in Drosophila melanogaster (2024) · cites this paper as [61]
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- Authors
- Das, A., Chiang, A., Davla, S., Priya, R., Reichert, H., VijayRaghavan, K., & Rodrigues, V.
- Affiliations
- Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (IN)
- University of Basel (CH)
- Corresponding author
- Reichert, Heinrich
- VijayRaghavan, K
- Venue
- Neural Systems & Circuits
- Published
- 2011-01-26
- Volume
- 1
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 4-4
- ISSN
- 2042-1001 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC3257541
- OpenAlex
- W2114834737
- Cited by
- 38
- References
- 32
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 1 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 5 · 2012: 2
- FWCI
- 1.59
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- Neural Systems & Circuits (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Wellcome Trust
- Children's Investment Fund Foundation
- Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
- Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology, India
- The Wellcome Trust DBT India Alliance
- National Centre for Biological Sciences
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurobiology and Insect Physiology Research
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Developmental Neuroscience › Neurogenesis and neuroplasticity mechanisms
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research
- Keywords
- antennal lobe, olfactory system, neuroblast lineage, Drosophila, vesicular glutamate transporter, cuts, olfactory interneurons, larval and pupal development, single-cell resolution, olfactory circuitry
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