title: Sensory neurons and peripheral pathways in Drosophila embryos.
abstract: The thoracic and abdominal segments of the Drosophila embryo contain 373 neurons innervating external sensory structures and 162 neurons innervating chordotonal organs. These neurons are arranged in ventral, lateral and dorsal clusters within each segment, in a highly invariant pattern. Two fascicles are formed in each segment as the sensory axons grow ventrally towards the CNS and meet motor axons growing dorsally from the CNS. In all but the last segment, the anterior fascicle is contributed by the dorsal and lateral neurons, while the posterior one is formed by the ventral neurons. Five distinct segmental patterns are described, corresponding to (1) the prothorax, (2) the other two thoracic segments, (3) the first seven abdominal segments, (4) the eighth and (5) the ninth (and possibly the tenth) abdominal segments.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Génétique, Université Libre de Bruxelles, 67 rue des Chevaux, 1640, Rhode-St-Genèse, Belgium.
authors.forename: Alain
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ghysen
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Génétique, Université Libre de Bruxelles, 67 rue des Chevaux, 1640, Rhode-St-Genèse, Belgium.
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dambly-Chaudière
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, University of California, 94143, San Francisco, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Efrain
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Aceves
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, University of California, 94143, San Francisco, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Lily -Yeh
authors.initials: L-
authors.lastname: Jan
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, University of California, 94143, San Francisco, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Yuh -Nung
authors.initials: Y-
authors.lastname: Jan
keywords: Drosophila embryo; Neurogenesis; Pathway formation; Peripheral nervous system; Sensory neurons