Functional Divergence of Plexin B Structural Motifs in Distinct Steps of Drosophila Olfactory Circuit Assembly

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Abstract/Contents

Abstract: Plexins are evolutionarily conserved receptors for Semaphorin signaling that carry out diverse and multitudinous neurodevelopmental processes. However, the molecular mechanisms behind how such proteins employ their structural architecture in vivo to perform distinct roles in neural circuit wiring remain unknown. Here, we systematically mutagenized structural motifs of Plexin B (PlexB), generating nine transgenic fly lines carrying mutant PlexB constructs expressed from the same genomic locus. We then assayed the efficacy of these variants at executing known PlexB-mediated neurodevelopmental processes in olfactory circuit assembly, namely axon fasciculation, trajectory choice, and synaptic partner selection. We found that certain structural motifs were involved in some processes but not in others. Furthermore, we report the first in vivo functional study of PlexB cleavage, revealing its regulatory role in multiple processes. Thus, PlexB differentially engages its signaling architecture in distinct wiring steps, allowing it to play varied roles in neural circuit assembly.

Type of resource	text
Date created	June 2019

Author	Guajardo, Ricardo
Primary advisor	Luo, Liqun
Advisor	Shen, Kang
Degree granting institution	Stanford University, Department of Biology, 2019

Related Publication	Li, J., Guajardo, R., Xu, C., et al. 2018. Stepwise wiring of the Drosophila olfactory map requires specific Plexin B levels. eLife 7:e39088.
Related item	Title Stepwise wiring of the Drosophila olfactory map requires specific Plexin B levels
Location	https://purl.stanford.edu/qt069ts7453

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Preferred Citation: Guajardo, Ricardo and Luo, Liqun and Shen, Kang. (2019). Functional Divergence of Plexin B Structural Motifs in Distinct Steps of Drosophila Olfactory Circuit Assembly. Stanford Digital Repository. Available at: https://purl.stanford.edu/qt069ts7453

Undergraduate Theses, Department of Biology, 2018-2019

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