The Origin, Location, and Projections of the Embryonic Abdominal Motorneurons ofDrosophila
We have used a retrograde labeling technique to identify motorneurons for each of the 30 body wall muscles of an abdominal hemisegment in the late stage 16Drosophilaembryo. Each motorneuron has a characteristic cell body position, dendritic arborization, and axonal projection. In addition, we have determined the neuroblasts of origin for most of the motorneurons we describe. Some organizational principles for the neuromuscular system have become apparent: (1) There is no obvious topographic relationship between the cell body positions of motorneurons and the position or orientation of the muscles they innervate; (2) motorneurons that innervate muscles of similar position and orientation are…
Charting the Drosophila neuropile: a strategy for the standardised characterisation of genetically amenable neurites
Insect neurons are individually identifiable and have been used successfully to study principles of the formation and function of neuronal circuits. In the fruitfly Drosophila, studies on identifiable neurons can be combined with efficient genetic approaches. However, to capitalise on this potential for studies of circuit formation in the CNS of Drosophila embryos or larvae, we need to identify pre- and postsynaptic elements of such circuits and describe the neuropilar territories they occupy. Here, we present a strategy for neurite mapping, using a set of evenly distributed landmarks labelled by commercially available anti-Fasciclin2 antibodies which remain comparatively constant between s…