title: Mushroom body neuronal remodelling is necessary for short-term but not for long-term courtship memory in Drosophila.
abstract: The remodelling of neurons during their development is considered necessary for their normal function. One fundamental mechanism involved in this remodelling process in both vertebrates and invertebrates is axon pruning. A well-documented case of such neuronal remodelling is the developmental axon pruning of mushroom body γ neurons that occurs during metamorphosis in Drosophila. The γ neurons undergo pruning of larval-specific dendrites and axons at metamorphosis, followed by their regrowth as adult-specific dendrites and axons. We recently revealed a molecular cascade required for this pruning. The nuclear receptor ftz-f1 activates the expression of the steroid hormone receptor EcR-B1, a key component for γ remodelling, and represses expression of Hr39, an ftz-f1 homologous gene. If ectopically expressed in the γ neurons, HR39 inhibits normal pruning, probably by competing with endogenous FTZ-F1, which results in decreased EcR-B1 expression. The mushroom bodies are a bilaterally symmetric structure in the larval and adult brain and are involved in the processing of different types of olfactory memory. How memory is affected in pruning-deficient adult flies that possess larval-stage neuronal circuitry will help to explain the functional role of neuron remodelling. Flies overexpressing Hr39 are viable as adults and make it possible to assess the requirement for wild-type mushroom body pruning in memory. While blocking mushroom body neuron remodelling impaired memory after short-term courtship conditioning, long-term memory was normal. These results show that larval pruning is necessary for adult memory and that expression of courtship short-term memory and long-term memory may be parallel and independent.
authors.affiliation: Neurogenetics and Memory, Institute of Human Genetics, CNRS UPR1142, Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: Christelle
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Redt-Clouet
authors.forename: Séverine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Trannoy
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Boulanger
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Tokmatcheva
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Savvateeva-Popova
authors.forename: Marie-Laure
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Parmentier
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Preat
authors.forename: Jean-Maurice
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Dura
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology*; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000166:cytology / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D057567:Memory, Long-Term / Q000502:physiology*; D024521:Mushroom Bodies / Q000166:cytology / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000502:physiology; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000502:physiology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D012726:Sexual Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*