Blockade of the release of the neuropeptide leucokinin to determine its possible functions in fly behavior: chemoreception assays.

Previous studies have revealed leucokinin (LK) expression in the brain and ventral ganglion of Drosophila CNS. One pair of protocerebrum neurons located in the lateral horn area (LHLK) surrounds the peduncles of the mushroom bodies while two pairs of subesophageal neurons (SELKs) project extended processes to the tritocerebrum and through a cervical connection to the ventral ganglion. There, axons of eight or nine pairs of abdominal (ABLK) neurons leave the CNS through the abdominal nerves and processes connecting each other ipsilaterally and contralaterally.

Detailed analysis of leucokinin-expressing neurons and their candidate functions in the Drosophila nervous system.

The distribution of leucokinin (LK) neurons in the central nervous system (CNS) of Drosophila melanogaster was described by immunolabelling many years ago. However, no detailed underlying information of the input or output connections of their neurites was then available. Here, we provide a more accurate morphological description by employing a novel LK-specific GAL4 line that recapitulates LK expression.

Squeeze involvement in the specification of Drosophila leucokinergic neurons: Different regulatory mechanisms endow the same neuropeptide selection.

One of the most widely studied phenomena in the establishment of neuronal identity is the determination of neurosecretory phenotype, in which cell-type-specific combinatorial codes direct distinct neurotransmitter or neuropeptide selection. However, neuronal types from divergent lineages may adopt the same neurosecretory phenotype, and it is unclear whether different classes of neurons use different or similar components to regulate shared features of neuronal identity. We have addressed this question by analyzing how differentiation of the Drosophila larval leucokinergic system, which is comprised of only four types of neurons, is regulated by factors known to affect expression of the FMRFamide neuropeptide.