Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 6, 2026

Dissection, Immunohistochemistry and Mounting of Larval and Adult Drosophila Brains for Optic Lobe Visualization
Published on: April 28, 2021
Temporal and spatial order of photoreceptor and glia projections into optic lobe in Drosophila
Yen-Ching Chang1,2, Chia-Kang Tsao1,2, Y Henry Sun3,4
1Institute of Genomic Sciences, National Yang Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan.
Abstract:
Photoreceptor (PR) axons project from the retina to the optic lobe in brain and form a precise retinotopic map in the Drosophila visual system. Yet the role of retinal basal glia in the retinotopic map formation is not previously known. We examined the formation of the retinotopic map by marking single PR pairs and following their axonal projections. In addition to confirming previous studies that the spatial information is preserved from the retina to the optic stalk and then to the optic lamina, we found that the young PR R3/4 axons transiently overshoot and then retract to their final destination, the lamina plexus. We then examined the process of wrapping glia (WG) membrane extension in the eye disc and showed that the WG membrane extensions also follow the retinotopic map. We show that the WG is important for the proper spatial distribution of PR axons in the optic stalk and lamina, suggesting an active role of wrapping glia in the retinotopic map formation.
Related Concept Videos
Photoreceptors and Plant Responses to Light
Fischer Projections
Lobes of the Cerebrum
Frontal lobe
The frontal lobes, located behind the forehead, are the command center of our brain, controlling personality, intelligence, and voluntary muscle movements....
Newman Projections
The organic molecules rotate across the single bonds leading to numerous temporary three-dimensional structures of varying energy known as...
Photoreceptors and Visual Pathways
Coordinates and Map Projections

