Morphological characterization of the entire interneuron population reveals principles of neuromere organization in the ventral nerve cord of Drosophila.

Decisive contributions to our understanding of the mechanisms underlying the development of the nervous system have been made by studies performed at the level of single, identified cells in the fruit fly Drosophila. While all the motor neurons and glial cells in thoracic and abdominal segments of the Drosophila embryo have been individually identified, few of the interneurons, which comprise the vast majority of cells in the CNS, have been characterized at this level. We have applied a single cell labeling technique to carry out a detailed morphological characterization of the entire population of interneurons in abdominal segments A1-A7.

The core planar cell polarity gene prickle interacts with flamingo to promote sensory axon advance in the Drosophila embryo.

The atypical cadherin Drosophila protein Flamingo and its vertebrate homologues play widespread roles in the regulation of both dendrite and axon growth. However, little is understood about the molecular mechanisms that underpin these functions. Whereas flamingo interacts with a well-defined group of genes in regulating planar cell polarity, previous studies have uncovered little evidence that the other core planar cell polarity genes are involved in regulation of neurite growth.

When are cellular oscillators sufficient for sequential segmentation?

Sequential segmentation during embryogenesis involves the generation of a repeated pattern along the embryo, which is concurrently undergoing axial elongation by cell division. Most mathematical models of sequential segmentation involve inherent cellular oscillators, acting as a segmentation clock. The cellular oscillation is assumed to be governed by the cell's physiological age or by its interaction with an external morphogen gradient.

The origins of the arthropod nervous system: insights from the Onychophora.

A revision of evolutionary relationships of the Arthropoda has provided fresh impetus to tracing the origins of the nervous system of this group of animals: other members of the Ecdysozoa possess a markedly different type of nervous system from both the arthropods and the annelid worms, with which they were previously grouped. Given their status as favoured sister taxon of the arthropods, Onychophora (velvet worms) are a key group for understanding the evolutionary changes that have taken place in the panarthropod (Arthropoda + Onychophora + Tardigrada) lineage. This article reviews our current knowledge of the structure and development of the onychophoran nervous system.

A revision of brain composition in Onychophora (velvet worms) suggests that the tritocerebrum evolved in arthropods.

Background: The composition of the arthropod head is one of the most contentious issues in animal evolution. In particular, controversy surrounds the homology and innervation of segmental cephalic appendages by the brain. Onychophora (velvet worms) play a crucial role in understanding the evolution of the arthropod brain, because they are close relatives of arthropods and have apparently changed little since the Early Cambrian.

Netrin-guided accessory cell morphogenesis dictates the dendrite orientation and migration of a Drosophila sensory neuron.

Accessory cells, which include glia and other cell types that develop in close association with neurons, have been shown to play key roles in regulating neuron development. However, the underlying molecular and cellular mechanisms remain poorly understood. A particularly intimate association between accessory cells and neurons is found in insect chordotonal organs.

Neural development in Onychophora (velvet worms) suggests a step-wise evolution of segmentation in the nervous system of Panarthropoda.

A fundamental question in biology is how animal segmentation arose during evolution. One particular challenge is to clarify whether segmental ganglia of the nervous system evolved once, twice, or several times within the Bilateria. As close relatives of arthropods, Onychophora play an important role in this debate since their nervous system displays a mixture of both segmental and non-segmental features.

Velvet worm development links myriapods with chelicerates.

Despite the advent of modern molecular and computational methods, the phylogeny of the four major arthropod groups (Chelicerata, Myriapoda, Crustacea and Hexapoda, including the insects) remains enigmatic. One particular challenge is the position of myriapods as either the closest relatives to chelicerates (Paradoxopoda/Myriochelata hypothesis), or to crustaceans and hexapods (Mandibulata hypothesis). While neither hypothesis receives conclusive support from molecular analyses, most morphological studies favour the Mandibulata concept, with the mandible being the most prominent feature of this group.

The atypical cadherin Flamingo is required for sensory axon advance beyond intermediate target cells.

The Drosophila atypical cadherin Flamingo plays key roles in a number of developmental processes. We have used the sensory nervous system of the Drosophila embryo to shed light on the mechanism by which Flamingo regulates axon growth. flamingo loss of function mutants display a highly penetrant sensory axon stall phenotype.

The L1-type cell adhesion molecule Neuroglian is necessary for maintenance of sensory axon advance in the Drosophila embryo.

Background: Cell adhesion molecules have long been implicated in the regulation of axon growth, but the precise cellular roles played by individual cell adhesion molecules and the molecular basis for their action are still not well understood. We have used the sensory system of the Drosophila embryo to shed light on the mechanism by which the L1-type cell adhesion molecule Neuroglian regulates axon growth.

Results: We have found a highly penetrant sensory axon stalling phenotype in neuroglian mutant embryos.

Semaphorin 2a secreted by oenocytes signals through plexin B and plexin A to guide sensory axons in the Drosophila embryo.

The semaphorin gene family has been shown to play important roles in axonal guidance in both vertebrates and invertebrates. Both transmembrane (Sema1a, Sema1b, Sema5c) and secreted (Sema2a, Sema2b) forms of semaphorins exist in Drosophila. Two Sema receptors, plexins (Plex) A and B, have also been identified.

Necessity and redundancy of guidepost cells in the embryonic Drosophila CNS.

Guidepost cells are specific cellular cues in the embryonic environment utilized by axonal growth cones in pathfinding decisions. In the embryonic Drosophila CNS the RP motor axons make stereotypic pathways choices involving distinct cellular contacts: (i) extension across the midline via contact with the axon and cell body of the homologous contralateral RP motoneuron, (ii) extension down the contralateral longitudinal connective (CLC) through contact with connective axons and longitudinal glia, and (iii) growth into the intersegmental nerve (ISN) through contact with ISN axons and the segmental boundary glial cell (SBC). We have now ablated putative guidepost cells in each of the CNS pathway subsections and uncovered their impact on subsequent RP motor axon pathfinding.

Development of a polar morphology by identified embryonic motoneurons.

Motoneuron morphology arises through the coordinated growth of the motor axon and dendrites. In the Drosophila embryo the RP motoneurons have a contralaterally-extended motor axon, ipsilateral dendrites that extend a short distance in the ipsilateral connective, and a tuft of short dendrites in the contralateral connective. In the present study mechanical and genetic manipulations were utilized to test if (i) the ipsilateral dendrites can develop an axon morphology, (ii) the presence of the contralateral motor axon suppresses the development of an axon-like morphology by the ipsilateral dendrites and (iii) whether establishment of a contralateral motor axon can be genetically suppressed.

Roundabout gene family functions during sensory axon guidance in the drosophila embryo are mediated by both Slit-dependent and Slit-independent mechanisms.

roundabout (robo) family genes play key roles in axon guidance in a wide variety of animals. We have investigated the roles of the robo family members, robo, robo2, and robo3, in the guidance of sensory axons in the Drosophila embryo. In robo(-/-), slit(-/-), and robo(-/+) slit(-/+) mutants, lateral cluster sensory neurons misproject to cells and axons in the nearby ventral' (v') cluster.

Homeotic genes influence the axonal pathway of a Drosophila embryonic sensory neuron.

Each abdominal hemisegment of the Drosophila embryo has two sensory neurons intimately associated with a tracheal branch. During embryogenesis, the axons of these sensory neurons, termed the v'td2 neurons, enter the CNS and grow toward the brain with a distinctive pathway change in the third thoracic neuromere. We show that the axons use guidance cues that are under control of the bithorax gene complex (BX-C).

Early axonogenesis in the embryo of a primitive insect, the silverfish Ctenolepisma longicaudata.

The pattern of axon growth from the population of neurons that pioneers the major axon pathways in the central nervous system is highly conserved in winged insects. This study sought to determine whether the same pattern of axon growth is shared by an apterygotic insect, the silverfish. We have found that homologues to at least nine early differentiating winged insect neurons are present in the silverfish.

Segmentation, neurogenesis and formation of early axonal pathways in the centipede,Ethmostigmus rubripes (Brandt).

We have examined the embryo of the centipedeEthmostigmus rubripes to determine the degree of evolutionary conservatism in the developmental processes of segmentation, neurogenesis and axon formation between the insects and the myriapods. A conspicuous feature of centipede embryogenesis is the early separation of the left and right sides of the ganglionic primordia by extra-embryonic ectoderm. An antibody to the protein encoded by theDrosophila segmentation geneengrailed binds to cells in the posterior margin of the limb buds in the centipede embryo, in common with insect and crustacean embryos.