A network approach to analyze neuronal lineage and layer innervation in the Drosophila optic lobes

The optic lobes of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster form a highly wired neural network composed of roughly 130.000 neurons of more than 80 different types. How neuronal diversity arises from very few cell progenitors is a central question in developmental neurobiology. We use the optic lobe of the fruit fly as a paradigm to understand how neuroblasts, the neural stem cells, generate multiple neuron types. Although the development of the fly brain has been the subject of extensive research, very little is known about the lineage relationships of the cell types forming the adult optic lobes. Here we perform a large-scale lineage bioinformatics analysis using the graph theory. We generated a large collection of cell clones that genetically label the progeny of neuroblasts and built a database to draw graphs showing the lineage relationships between cell types. By establishing biological criteria that measures the strength of the neuronal relationships and applying community detection tools we have identified eight clusters of neurons. Each cluster contains different cell types that we pose are the product of eight distinct classes of neuroblasts. Three of these clusters match the available lineage data, supporting the predictive value of the analysis. Finally, we show that the neuronal progeny of a neuroblast do not have preferential innervation patterns, but instead become part of different layers and neuropils. Here we establish a new methodology that helps understanding the logic of Drosophila brain development and can be applied to the more complex vertebrate brains.