title: Identifying functional connections of the inner photoreceptors in Drosophila using Tango-Trace.
abstract: In Drosophila, the four inner photoreceptor neurons exhibit overlapping but distinct spectral sensitivities and mediate behaviors that reflect spectral preference. We developed a genetic strategy, Tango-Trace, that has permitted the identification of the connections of the four chromatic photoreceptors. Each of the four stochastically distributed chromatic photoreceptor subtypes make distinct connections in the medulla with four different TmY cells. Moreover, each class of TmY cells forms a retinotopic map in both the medulla and the lobula complex, generating four overlapping topographic maps that could carry different color information. Thus, the four inner photoreceptors transmit spectral information through distinct channels that may converge in both the medulla and lobula complex. These projections could provide an anatomic basis for color vision and may relay information about color to motion sensitive areas. Moreover, the Tango-Trace strategy we used may be applied more generally to identify neural circuits in the fly brain.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA.
authors.forename: Smitha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jagadish
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912 USA.
authors.forename: Gilad
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Barnea
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA. Electronic address: trc@stanford.edu.
authors.forename: Thomas R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Clandinin
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA. Electronic address: ra27@columbia.edu.
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Axel
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D051784:Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor Nuclear Translocator / Q000378:metabolism*; D018118:Chloride Channels / Q000378:metabolism*; D055253:Color Vision / Q000502:physiology*; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000378:metabolism*; D008526:Medulla Oblongata / Q000502:physiology*; D009038:Motion; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000502:physiology; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D010786:Photoreceptor Cells / Q000378:metabolism*; D011970:Receptors, Histamine H2 / Q000378:metabolism*; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D018118:Chloride Channels; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; C557617:GAL4 protein, Drosophila; D011970:Receptors, Histamine H2; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors; C446763:ort protein, Drosophila; C109766:tgo protein, Drosophila; D051784:Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor Nuclear Translocator