Full reconstruction of large lobula plate tangential cells in Drosophila from a 3D EM dataset.

With the advent of neurogenetic methods, the neural basis of behavior is presently being analyzed in more and more detail. This is particularly true for visually driven behavior of Drosophila melanogaster where cell-specific driver lines exist that, depending on the combination with appropriate effector genes, allow for targeted recording, silencing and optogenetic stimulation of individual cell-types. Together with detailed connectomic data of large parts of the fly optic lobe, this has recently led to much progress in our understanding of the neural circuits underlying local motion detection.

FARNA: knowledgebase of inferred functions of non-coding RNA transcripts.

Non-coding RNA (ncRNA) genes play a major role in control of heterogeneous cellular behavior. Yet, their functions are largely uncharacterized. Current available databases lack in-depth information of ncRNA functions across spectrum of various cells/tissues.

The FRK1 mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase (MAPKKK) from Solanum chacoense is involved in embryo sac and pollen development.

The fertilization-related kinase 1 (ScFRK1), a nuclear-localized mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase (MAPKKK) from the wild potato species Solanum chacoense, belongs to a small group of pMEKKs that do not possess an extended N- or C-terminal regulatory domain. Initially selected based on its highly specific expression profile following fertilization, in situ expression analyses revealed that the ScFRK1 gene is also expressed early on during female gametophyte development in the integument and megaspore mother cell and, later, in the synergid and egg cells of the embryo sac. ScFRK1 mRNAs are also detected in pollen mother cells.

Supralinear increase of recurrent inhibition during sparse activity in the somatosensory cortex.

The balance between excitation and inhibition in the cortex is crucial in determining sensory processing. Because the amount of excitation varies, maintaining this balance is a dynamic process; yet the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. We show here that the activity of even a single layer 2/3 pyramidal cell in the somatosensory cortex of the rat generates widespread inhibition that increases disproportionately with the number of active pyramidal neurons.

The ScFRK2 MAP kinase kinase kinase from Solanum chacoense affects pollen development and viability.

We have previously described the FERTILIZATION-RELATED KINASE 2 (ScFRK2), a MAP kinase kinase kinase from Solanum chacoense that is predominantly expressed in reproductive tissues. Overexpression of the ScFRK2 gene modifies the cell fate of ovule initials and induces homeotic transformation of ovules into carpelloid structures. Since the ScFRK2 gene is normally expressed also in anthers, we now further our observations on the effect of ScFRK2 overexpression in male reproductive structures.