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Dissection and Immunofluorescent Staining of Mushroom Body and Photoreceptor Neurons in Adult Drosophila melanogaster Brains
Published on: November 6, 2017
Drosophila brain development: closing the gap between a macroarchitectural and microarchitectural approach.
A Cardona1, S Saalfeld, P Tomancak
1Department of Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
Cold Spring Harbor Symposia on Quantitative Biology
|December 24, 2009
Summary
Researchers are reconstructing the developing Drosophila brain at macro and microcircuit levels. Advances in digital microscopy and software are overcoming traditional limitations in studying neural structure and function.
Area of Science:
- Neurobiology
- Developmental Neuroscience
- Computational Neuroscience
Background:
- Neurobiologists study neural circuits at macro (inter-compartment connectivity) and micro (neuronal connectivity) levels.
- Reconstructing neural microcircuits is challenging due to the small scale of neuronal processes and synaptic contacts.
- Traditional serial section electron microscopy is labor-intensive, limiting microcircuitry studies across species.
Purpose of the Study:
- To reconstruct the developing Drosophila brain at both macro and microcircuit levels.
- To leverage digital imaging and specialized software to overcome limitations in electron microscopy reconstruction.
- To compare findings on Drosophila neuropile ultrastructure with existing data from other animal taxa.
Main Methods:
- Reconstruction of brain lineages to understand macrocircuit patterns.
- Serial section electron microscopy for high-resolution microcircuit reconstruction.
- Digital image acquisition and specialized software for image processing and analysis.
Main Results:
- Progress in reconstructing the Drosophila larval brain's macro and microcircuits.
- Demonstration of digital microscopy's potential to solve serial electron microscopy reconstruction challenges.
- Initial insights into Drosophila brain ultrastructure in the context of comparative neuroanatomy.
Conclusions:
- Digital imaging and software significantly advance the feasibility of detailed neural circuit reconstruction.
- The Drosophila larval brain serves as a tractable model for studying neural development and circuit organization.
- This work contributes to a broader understanding of brain microcircuitry across the animal kingdom.
