Developmental Genetic and Molecular Analysis of Drosophila Central Complex Lineages

Complex behaviors are mediated by a diverse class of neurons and glia produced during development. Both neural stem cell-intrinsic and -extrinsic temporal cues regulate the appropriate number, molecular identity, and circuit assembly of neurons. The Drosophila central complex (CX) is a higher-order brain structure regulating various behaviors, including sensory-motor integration, celestial navigation, and sleep. Most neurons and glia in the adult CX are formed during larval development by 16 Type II neural stem cells (NSCs). Unlike Type I NSCs, which directly give rise to the ganglion mother cells (GMCs), Type II NSCs give rise to multiple intermediate neural progenitors (INPs), and each INP in turn generates multiple GMCs, hence fostering the generation of longer and more diverse lineages. This makes Type II NSCs a suitable model to unravel the molecular mechanisms regulating neural diversity in more complex lineages. In this review, we elaborate on the classification and identification of NSCs based on the types of division adopted and the molecular markers expressed in each type. In the end, we discuss genetic methods for lineage analysis and birthdating. We also explain the temporal expression of stem cell factors and genetic techniques to study how stem cell factors may regulate neural fate specification.