Cell identity and wiring specificity in the Drosophila olfactory system
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- The brain is a complex organ formed from billions of neurons. There are thousands of types of neurons, each with a unique morphology, function, gene expression profile and pattern of connectivity. This structure poses a very interesting developmental challenge: how do neurons acquire unique identities and connect to specific partner neurons during development? The Drosophila antennal lobe presents an attractive genetic model system in which to investigate these questions. In the antennal lobe, olfactory receptor neuron (ORN) axons project to glomeruli where they synapse with their partner projection neuron (PN) dendrites. These connections are highly stereotyped, as ORNs expressing the same odorant receptor converge on the same glomerulus and all PNs of the same class send their dendrites to the same glomerulus. Cell surface molecules are known to be crucial to instructing this specific wiring during development, and a transcriptional code likely dictates which cells express a particular cell surface molecule. However, the identities of many of these cell surface molecules and transcription factors remain unknown, and it is possible that additional cell types also inform the specific wiring of PNs and ORNs. In this thesis, I present work that furthers our understanding of the development and function of the fly olfactory circuit. First, I discuss a detailed characterization of local interneurons in the antennal lobe, dramatically expanding our basic knowledge of the types of cells present during development as well as central to information processing in the antennal lobe. Second, I present my work on the transcription factor longitudinals lacking (lola) that plays a role both in fate determination and wiring specificity of olfactory projection neurons, the second order cells that relay olfactory information to higher brain centers. Finally, I present an analysis of the regulatory elements driving expression of the projection neuron marker GH146 as a first step in defining transcriptional regulatory modules and identifying factors that may direct fate and wiring decisions in PNs.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Form | electronic; electronic resource; remote |
| Extent | 1 online resource. |
| Copyright date | 2010 |
| Publication date | 2009, c2010; 2009 |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | English |
Creators/Contributors
| Associated with | Spletter, Maria Lynn |
|---|---|
| Associated with | Stanford University, Department of Biology. |
| Primary advisor | Luo, Liqun, 1966- |
| Thesis advisor | Luo, Liqun, 1966- |
| Thesis advisor | Clandinin, Thomas R. (Thomas Robert), 1970- |
| Thesis advisor | McConnell, Susan K |
| Thesis advisor | Shen, Kang, 1972- |
| Advisor | Clandinin, Thomas R. (Thomas Robert), 1970- |
| Advisor | McConnell, Susan K |
| Advisor | Shen, Kang, 1972- |
Subjects
| Genre | Theses |
|---|
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | Maria Lynn Spletter. |
|---|---|
| Note | Submitted to the Department of Biology. |
| Thesis | Ph.D. Stanford University 2010 |
| Location | electronic resource |
Access conditions
- Copyright
- © 2010 by Maria Lynn Spletter
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
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