Tag

Drosophila

All articles tagged with #drosophila

science25 days ago•8 min saved

Tiny brains, big navigation: fruit flies use memory to track drifting odors

New experiments show fruit flies locate odor sources not by a simple upwind surge but by edge-tracking through turbulent plumes, guided by a stored olfactory memory. A brain compass in the central complex keeps direction while a memory in the fan-shaped body marks the plume’s edge as a navigational goal; flies can rapidly update this memory with training, and use it even when the scent vanishes. The work suggests navigation combines memory and reflexes, relying on memory in stable plumes and resorting to simpler strategies when turbulence breaks the plume into fragments.

via Ars Technica|

#drosophila #memory #navigation

science27 days ago•36 min saved

Epigenetic division counter times stem cell fate in the Drosophila gut

Drosophila intestinal stem cells count their self-renewal divisions to time multipotent fate switching: after producing an enteroendocrine mother cell (EMC) they complete eight divisions to generate enterocytes (ECs), and at the ninth division switch back to EMC production for enteroendocrine cells (EECs). This division-counting memory is driven by opposing histone marks—TrxG-dependent H3K4me3 and H3K36me3 decline while PcG-dependent H3K27me3 accumulates—triggering fate switching once a threshold is reached. Transient Notch signaling from EMCs initiates the count, and the system is tunable via TrxG/PcG activity while remaining resilient to injury, with implications for engineered tissue growth and differentiation-d disorder therapies.

via Nature|

#drosophila #epigenetics #histone-modifications

science1 month ago•99 min saved

A shared transcriptional clock patterns neuronal fate in the Drosophila ventral nerve cord

A high-coverage developmental atlas of the Drosophila ventral nerve cord reveals a universal transcriptional clock of birth order, expressed as 17 shared transcription factors (shTFs) that align neurons across hemilineages, segments and sexes, enabling mapping between transcriptomic cell types and the connectome. The study shows embryonic-born neurons diverge earlier than larval-born ones, demonstrates how birth-order information shapes neuronal diversity, and uncovers sex-specific mechanisms—apoptosis and transcriptional divergence—in shaping dimorphisms, with Br acting as a terminal selector when misexpressed. The atlas provides a framework for linking molecular identity to circuit architecture and for comparative studies on nervous system development and evolution.

via Nature|

#birth-order-code #drosophila #neuronal-identity

neuroscience1 month ago•105 min saved

Memory-guided edge tracking enables vector-based olfactory navigation in fruit flies

Using a closed-loop olfactory VR, Drosophila track odor plumes by edge-tracking along the plume boundary and store a directional memory to return to that boundary, enabling a vector-based navigation strategy through dynamic plumes. Flies perform non-random, directed returns after leaving the plume, and neural data show FC2 neurons in the fan-shaped body encode the boundary-directed goal while EPGs coordinate heading, revealing a memory-enabled navigation toolkit within the central complex that adapts to changing plume geometries.

via Nature|

#central-complex #drosophila #edge-tracking

neuroimaging2 months ago•27 min saved

Dopamine Keeps Stress-Reduced Courtship Alive in Fruit Flies

New research shows male Drosophila confined in tiny spaces exhibit a lasting drop in courtship after stress, and dopamine release is required to maintain this suppression. Blocking dopamine synthesis or signaling—via drugs, RNA interference, or removing receptors in the mushroom body—and silencing key dopamine neuron clusters (PAM and PPL1) prevents the prolonged reduction, though the immediate decline occurs without dopamine. Longer confinement (7–24 hours) yields suppression lasting days, highlighting a dopamine-dependent mechanism linking stress to reduced mating drive in fruit flies.

via PsyPost|

#courtship #dopamine #drosophila

science2 months ago•20 min saved

Fruit fly connectome reveals distributed, modular motor control across brain and nerve cord

The first densely reconstructed adult Drosophila connectome spanning brain and ventral nerve cord shows effector neurons are largely governed by local sensory inputs within the same body part, while long-range ascending and descending circuits link parts into behavior-centric modules. Brain regions tied to learning and navigation supervise these circuits, revealing a distributed, parallel, embodied control architecture reminiscent of engineered distributed systems.

via Nature|

#brain-connectome #distributed-control #drosophila

neuroscience2 months ago•7 min saved

Dopamine Sets the Pace of Stress-Driven Courtship Suppression in Flies

In fruit flies, researchers show that dopamine does not trigger the initial shutdown of mating drive under stress but acts as a molecular timer that sustains suppression after stress; longer confinement leads to longer-lasting courtship inhibition via dopamine signaling in the mushroom body, offering insights into stress-related sexual dysfunction that may extend to humans.

via Neuroscience News|

#dopamine #drosophila #mushroom-body

science3 months ago•5 min saved

Developmental State May Explain Why Brain Regions Are More Cancer-Prone

Researchers studied fruit flies to understand why brain cancers arise preferentially in certain regions. By editing brain-cell identity proteins around Chinmo, they showed that the same cancer-causing mutation leads to tumors only in some areas; reducing Chinmo halted growth where tumors would form, while increasing Chinmo caused tumors in previously unaffected regions. The findings imply tumor formation depends on cell environment and developmental state, not just the mutation, offering potential therapeutic angles—though humans lack Chinmo, analogous proteins may influence susceptibility.

via ScienceAlert|

#brain-cancer #chinmo #developmental-state

science3 months ago•4 min saved

Hypergravity Reshapes Fruit Fly Biology—with Lasting, Generational Effects

UC Riverside researchers exposed fruit flies to 4–13G using a centrifuge for 24 hours or across 10 generations, then returned them to normal 1G. The flies kept their startle-triggered geotaxis but showed markedly reduced spontaneous movement at higher gravity, likely due to energy conservation and shifts in lipid metabolism. After return to 1G, 4G-exposed flies became briefly hyperactive, while higher-G flies recovered slowly with lasting locomotor impairments; multigenerational exposure caused even greater, enduring deficits. The findings suggest gravity exposure can induce lasting physiological changes, potentially epigenetic, with implications for artificial gravity design and astronaut health during space travel.

via Universe Today|

#drosophila #energy-metabolism #epigenetics

science4 months ago•91 min saved

Neuronal lipid droplets coordinate whole-body energy balance with male-biased effects across species

The study shows neuronal lipid droplets (nLDs) exist in vivo in both flies and mice; their formation is regulated by triglyceride metabolism enzymes and LD-associated proteins. Modulating nLDs produces conserved, male-biased effects on whole-body energy homeostasis, particularly in neurons that link environmental cues to energy balance. Mechanistically, nLD-derived lipids supply fatty acids and phospholipids to support mitochondrial and endoplasmic reticulum function, highlighting a conserved role for nLDs in coordinating neuronal lipid supply and demand for healthy energy regulation.

via Nature|

#drosophila #energy-homeostasis #mice

biology6 months ago•75 min saved

Pre-ZGA 3D genome architecture emerges modularly in Drosophila embryos

Using Pico-C, a low-input Micro-C method, the study maps high-resolution 3D genome architecture across NC9–NC14 in early Drosophila embryos and reveals that chromatin loops and boundaries emerge in an ordered, modular fashion before major ZGA. Transcriptional elongation inhibition preserves some early loops but weakens promoter insulation, while sequence-based models show orthogonal motif-driven contributions to architecture. Co-depleting Zelda and GAF confirms locus-specific regulatory inputs, supporting a layered regulatory logic for genome establishment prior to ZGA.

via Nature|

#3d-genome #biology #chromatin-architecture

science6 months ago•6 min saved

Early Embryos Build a 3D Genome Scaffold Before Gene Activation

Researchers using the Pico-C method show that a modular 3D genome scaffold forms in Drosophila embryos before zygotic genome activation, suggesting pre‑existing DNA organization guides timely gene activation and development; disrupting this architecture can trigger immune-like responses, highlighting its importance for human health as well as early-life biology.

via SciTechDaily|

#3d-genome-folding #drosophila #embryonic-development

biology11 months ago•26 min saved

Presynaptic Inhibition of Leg Proprioception in Drosophila

This study investigates how selective presynaptic inhibition modulates leg proprioception in behaving Drosophila, utilizing calcium imaging, connectomics, and computational modeling to understand neural mechanisms underlying sensorimotor control.

via Nature|

#behavior #biology #drosophila

biology11 months ago•69 min saved

Mechanical Forces and Evolutionary Strategies in Tissue Development

The study reveals that the cephalic furrow (CF) in fly gastrulation is an evolutionary innovation in Cyclorrhapha that functions as a mechanical sink to prevent tissue collision and buckling during head and trunk expansion. In non-cyclorrhaphan flies, alternative strategies like out-of-plane cell division mitigate mechanical stress, highlighting divergent evolutionary adaptations to ensure robust morphogenesis. Loss of CF leads to tissue buckling and developmental defects, emphasizing its mechanical and developmental importance.

via Nature|

#biology #drosophila #evolution

biology11 months ago•67 min saved

Mechanical Forces and Evolutionary Strategies in Gastrulation and Organ Development

The study reveals that the patterned invagination of the cephalic furrow in Drosophila prevents mechanical instability during gastrulation by absorbing compressive stresses caused by mitotic domains and germ band extension, with its formation regulated by specific gene expression patterns, and suggests that mechanical challenges have driven the evolution of this morphogenetic feature in dipteran flies.

via Nature|

#biology #drosophila #evolution