Light-avoidance-mediating photoreceptors tile the Drosophila larval body wall.
Photoreceptors for visual perception, phototaxis or light avoidance are typically clustered in eyes or related structures such as the Bolwig organ of Drosophila larvae. Unexpectedly, we found that the class IV dendritic arborization neurons of Drosophila melanogaster larvae respond to ultraviolet, violet and blue light, and are major mediators of light avoidance, particularly at high intensities. These class IV dendritic arborization neurons, which are present in every body segment, have dendrites tiling the larval body wall nearly completely without redundancy. Dendritic illumination activates class IV dendritic arborization neurons. These novel photoreceptors use phototransduction machinery distinct from other photoreceptors in Drosophila and enable larvae to sense light exposure over their entire bodies and move out of danger.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Departments of Physiology, Biochemistry, and Biophysics, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California 94158, USA.
Yang
Y
Xiang
Quan
Q
Yuan
Nina
N
Vogt
Loren L
LL
Looger
Lily Yeh
LY
Jan
Yuh Nung
YN
Jan
D000825:Animal Structures / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000528:radiation effects; D000818:Animals; D001362:Avoidance Learning / Q000502:physiology / Q000528:radiation effects; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D020405:Dermis / Q000378:metabolism / Q000528:radiation effects; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology / Q000528:radiation effects*; D007473:Ion Channels; D007814:Larva / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000166:cytology / Q000528:radiation effects; D008027:Light; D055537:Light Signal Transduction / Q000528:radiation effects; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology / Q000528:radiation effects; D017956:Photoreceptor Cells, Invertebrate / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000528:radiation effects*; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface / Q000378:metabolism; D000074025:TRPA1 Cation Channel; D050052:TRPC Cation Channels / Q000378:metabolism
D029721:Drosophila Proteins; C543920:Gr28b protein, Drosophila; D007473:Ion Channels; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface; D000074025:TRPA1 Cation Channel; D050052:TRPC Cation Channels; C475684:TrpA1 protein, Drosophila