title: Integration of the olfactory code across dendritic claws of single mushroom body neurons.
abstract: In the olfactory system, sensory inputs are arranged in different glomerular channels, which respond in combinatorial ensembles to the various chemical features of an odor. We investigated where and how this combinatorial code is read out deeper in the brain. We exploited the unique morphology of neurons in the Drosophila mushroom body, which receive input on large dendritic claws. Imaging odor responses of these dendritic claws revealed that input channels with distinct odor tuning converge on individual mushroom body neurons. We determined how these inputs interact to drive the cell to spike threshold using intracellular recordings to examine mushroom body responses to optogenetically controlled input. Our results provide an elegant explanation for the characteristic selectivity of mushroom body neurons: these cells receive different types of input and require those inputs to be coactive to spike. These results establish the mushroom body as an important site of integration in the fly olfactory system.
authors.affiliation: 1] Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, New York, USA. [2] Watson School of Biological Sciences, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, New York, USA. [3].
authors.forename: Eyal
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gruntman
authors.forename: Glenn C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Turner
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism; D003712:Dendrites / Q000502:physiology*; D004330:Drosophila; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D005260:Female; D008164:Luminescent Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008564:Membrane Potentials / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D008959:Models, Neurological; D024521:Mushroom Bodies / Q000166:cytology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology*; D009812:Odorants; D009833:Olfactory Pathways / Q000502:physiology*; D018408:Patch-Clamp Techniques; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D012243:Rhodopsin / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D013569:Synapses / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D008164:Luminescent Proteins; D012243:Rhodopsin; D002118:Calcium