scholarly journals Expression of a Drosophila melanogaster acetylcholine receptor-related gene in the central nervous system.

1988 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 778-785 ◽  
Author(s):  
S C Wadsworth ◽  
L S Rosenthal ◽  
K L Kammermeyer ◽  
M B Potter ◽  
D J Nelson

We isolated Drosophila melanogaster genomic sequences with nucleotide and amino acid sequence homology to subunits of vertebrate acetylcholine receptor by hybridization with a Torpedo acetylcholine receptor subunit cDNA probe. Five introns are present in the portion of the Drosophila gene encoding the unprocessed protein and are positionally conserved relative to the human acetylcholine receptor alpha-subunit gene. The Drosophila genomic clone hybridized to salivary gland polytene chromosome 3L within region 64B and was termed AChR64B. A 3-kilobase poly(A)-containing transcript complementary to the AChR64B clone was readily detectable by RNA blot hybridizations during midembryogenesis, during metamorphosis, and in newly enclosed adults. AChR64B transcripts were localized to the cellular regions of the central nervous system during embryonic, larval, pupal, and adult stages of development. During metamorphosis, a temporal relationship between the morphogenesis of the optic lobe and expression of AChR64B transcripts was observed.

1988 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 778-785
Author(s):  
S C Wadsworth ◽  
L S Rosenthal ◽  
K L Kammermeyer ◽  
M B Potter ◽  
D J Nelson

We isolated Drosophila melanogaster genomic sequences with nucleotide and amino acid sequence homology to subunits of vertebrate acetylcholine receptor by hybridization with a Torpedo acetylcholine receptor subunit cDNA probe. Five introns are present in the portion of the Drosophila gene encoding the unprocessed protein and are positionally conserved relative to the human acetylcholine receptor alpha-subunit gene. The Drosophila genomic clone hybridized to salivary gland polytene chromosome 3L within region 64B and was termed AChR64B. A 3-kilobase poly(A)-containing transcript complementary to the AChR64B clone was readily detectable by RNA blot hybridizations during midembryogenesis, during metamorphosis, and in newly enclosed adults. AChR64B transcripts were localized to the cellular regions of the central nervous system during embryonic, larval, pupal, and adult stages of development. During metamorphosis, a temporal relationship between the morphogenesis of the optic lobe and expression of AChR64B transcripts was observed.


Open Biology ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (12) ◽  
pp. 190245
Author(s):  
Eléanor Simon ◽  
Sergio Fernández de la Puebla ◽  
Isabel Guerrero

Specific neuropeptides regulate in arthropods the shedding of the old cuticle (ecdysis) followed by maturation of the new cuticle. In Drosophila melanogaster , the last ecdysis occurs at eclosion from the pupal case, with a post-eclosion behavioural sequence that leads to wing extension, cuticle stretching and tanning. These events are highly stereotyped and are controlled by a subset of crustacean cardioactive peptide (CCAP) neurons through the expression of the neuropeptide Bursicon (Burs). We have studied the role of the transcription factor Odd-paired (Opa) during the post-eclosion period. We report that opa is expressed in the CCAP neurons of the central nervous system during various steps of the ecdysis process and in peripheral CCAP neurons innerving the larval muscles involved in adult ecdysis. We show that its downregulation alters Burs expression in the CCAP neurons. Ectopic expression of Opa, or the vertebrate homologue Zic2 , in the CCAP neurons also affects Burs expression, indicating an evolutionary functional conservation. Finally, our results show that, independently of its role in Burs regulation, Opa prevents death of CCAP neurons during larval development.


1995 ◽  
Vol 347 (1320) ◽  
pp. 139-154 ◽  

Neuropeptide-immunoreactive neurons have been mapped by immunocytochemistry in whole-mount preparations and sections of the central nervous system of Oniscus asellus . We tested rabbit antisera against decapod crustacean hyperglycemic hormone (CHH), moult inhibiting hormone (MIH ), pigment dispersing hormone (PDH) and red pigment concentrating hormone (RPCH). four CHH- and three PDH-immunoreactive neurons localized in the superior median protocerebrum of the brain constitute neurosecretory pathways to the neurohaemal sinus gland. No immunoreactive structures have been detected with an antiserum against MIH of Carcinus maenus . Another, newly identified neurosecretory pathway is formed by a group of RPCH-immunoreactive neurons in the mandibular ganglion. These neurons project to the neurohaemal lateral cephalic nerve plexus, further PDH- and RPCH-immunoreactive neurons and fibres occur in the brain and the ventral nerve cord (VNC). Two groups of PDH-immunoreactive neurons supply brain and optic lobe neuropils, the bases of the ommatidia, and probably give rise to descending fibres innervating all VNC-neuropils. Two groups and five individuals of RPCH-immunoreactive neurons that innervate several brain neuropils or occur as ascending neurons in the VNC have been reconstructed. The CHH-immunoreactive neurons, and distinct types of PDH- and RPCH-immunoreactive neurons obviously belong to classical hormone-producing neurosecretory pathways. At least the CHH-immunoreactive cells seem to be part of an isopod homologue of the decapod X-organ. The existence of other PDH- and RPCH-immunoreactive interneurons suggests additional functions of these peptides as neurotransmitters or neuromodulators, which is in agreement with similar observations in the decapod central nervous system.


Author(s):  
Christof Rickert ◽  
Thomas Kunz ◽  
Kerri-Lee Harris ◽  
Paul Whitington ◽  
Gerhard Technau

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