title: Fixation and locomotor activity are impaired by inducing tetanus toxin expression in adult Drosophila brain.
abstract: Visual fixation and locomotor activity are two important behavioral properties utilized by flies when they approach a landmark. Although previous studies in Drosophila have revealed that the mushroom bodies (Mbs) and the central complex (CC) were regulatory centers for these behaviors, the specific neurons involved still remain largely unknown. We tested visual fixation behavior and locomotor activity of flies in a simple choice assay, Buridan's paradigm, using the GAL4/UAS system to express tetanus toxin light chain (TeTxLC) in adult neurons specifically. Although we explored a variety of mushroom body and central complex-labeling lines, we found that only four GAL4 lines (104y-GAL4, 121y-GAL4, 154y-GAL4 and 210y-GAL4) could produce significant defects in fixation as well as decrease locomotor activity following adult induction of TeTxLC. This suggests a more complex circuit is involved in controlling these behaviors than previously thought. Expression patterns of the GAL4 lines in the central nervous system provide the some clues to which neurons might be involved in this neural circuit.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, PR China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xiong
authors.forename: Hailong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lv
authors.forename: Zhefeng
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Gong
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology; D004330:Drosophila / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins; D008124:Locomotion; D008297:Male; D008666:Metalloendopeptidases / Q000378:metabolism; D013744:Tetanus Toxin / Q000378:metabolism; D014785:Vision, Ocular
chemical_list: D013744:Tetanus Toxin; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins; D008666:Metalloendopeptidases; C093556:zinc-endopeptidase, tetanus neurotoxin