Neuronal cell recognition in Drosophila

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The segregation of axon and dendrite projections into distinct synaptic units is a fundamental principle of nervous system organization and the structural basis for information processing in the brain. The molecular mechanisms that allow projecting neurons to recognize their synaptic partners and initiate synaptogenesis are largely unknown. Using a systematic genetic mosaic approach in the Drosophila visual and olfactory system, we have identified distinct control mechanisms, which are critical for sensory axons to connect to their correct CNS partner neurons. The research proposed in this application is aimed at understanding the molecular basis of cellular recognition specificity that coordinates the assembly of multiple neuronal subtypes into functionally distinct microcircuits. To this end we intend to explore, in a comparative approach between the visual and the olfactory system, the molecular basis of two different developmental mechanisms for the generation of neuronal recognition identity. First, by determining how the temporal expression dynamics of the Zn finger protein Sequoia in projecting photoreceptor neurons controls layer specific innervation. And second, by characterizing how the chromatin regulator Psc coordinates the differentiation of sensory and synaptic identity of olfactory neurons. From these analyses we are expecting to obtain a better understanding of how the specificity of neural brain networks is encoded in the genome.