Connectomic analysis of an entire Drosophila: connecting the central nervous system (CNS) with the periphery in the larval feeding system

神经科学的一项重大成就将是完整的大脑连接图，以及这些回路在行为和生理水平上的功能知识。我们参与了果蝇幼虫大脑突触分辨率的重建，重点是作为摄食行为基础的感觉运动回路。我们最近提供了一组肽能神经元在食管下区参与调节食物摄入的突触连接体，并已表明，它连接化学感觉输入与内分泌输出。我们目前的目标是重建包括馈电网络的电机电路。我们将首先追踪所有参与食物摄入的咽神经轴突，并绘制它们在中枢神经系统中的感觉投射域。然后，我们将确定这些神经的所有运动神经元，这些神经支配参与咽泵和口钩运动的肌肉，并确定它们的突触前伙伴。运动输出分析也将扩展到映射所有神经分泌神经元的主要内分泌中心，环腺。这些研究将补充选定的神经元的功能分析，以及已知的神经递质阳性人群参与饥饿反应的功能成像屏幕。总之，我们希望提供一个全面的大脑感觉运动回路的连接图，这些回路是摄食调节的基础。

A major achievement in the neurosciences would be a complete connectivity map of a brain, together with a functional knowledge of what these circuits do at a behavioral and physiological level. We have been involved in the reconstruction of the Drosophila larval brain at synaptic resolution, focusing on the sensory-motor circuits that underlie feeding behavior. We have recently provided a synaptic connectome of a group of peptidergic neurons in the subesophageal zone involved in modulating food intake, and have shown that it connects chemosensory inputs with endocrine outputs. Our current aim is a reconstruction of the motor circuits comprising the feeding network. We will first trace all axons of the pharyngeal nerves involved in food intake and map their sensory projection domains in the central nervous system. We will then identify all motor neurons of these nerves, which innervate muscles involved in pharyngeal pumping and mouth hook movements, and identify their presynaptic partners. The motor output analysis will also be extended to map all neurosecretory neurons targeting the major endocrine center, the ring gland. These studies will be complemented with functional analysis on selected neurons, as well as a functional imaging screen of known neurotransmitter positive populations for their involvement in starvation response. In sum, we hope to provide a comprehensive connectivity map of the sensory-motor circuits in the brain that underlie feeding regulation.