Electrophysiology and imaging of Drosophila olfaction

描述(申请人提供)：对整个动物界嗅觉系统的分子生物学、结构和功能的研究揭示了许多共同的设计特征(例如：大量气味感受器，精确的轴突会聚，活动的振荡同步)，在进化中的遥远动物物种，如昆虫和灵长类动物(包括人类)。有趣的是，这些设计特征中的许多在这许多物种中的实现方式是不同的(例如：不同的基因序列、突触类型和细胞形态)：比较这些不同的实现方式，并通过这种比较，识别它们共同的高级特征，有助于我们识别嗅觉系统的功能规则。因为嗅觉回路与记忆结构密切相关--人类对气味的记忆特别生动和持久--理解嗅觉编码也有助于我们更好地理解联想记忆的性质及其潜在的生物学。目前的工作是为了了解这些嗅觉/记忆电路的基本生理学。这项工作将构成电生理学基础，在此基础上，可以在一个特别有利的模型系统中建立新的嗅觉学习细胞和系统研究：利用数百个实验室在这个系统上一个世纪的遗传学和分子工作，将用果蝇的大脑进行实验：凭借它们的可及性和我们现在掌握的知识，可以控制果蝇的基因，以标记或操纵特定的神经元和电路。通过将这些强大的工具与电极记录和快速大脑成像工具相结合，我们可以检查特定分子、神经元或突触对嗅觉功能的作用。果蝇的大脑相对较小(约10万个神经元)，也将极大地简化在更复杂的系统中破译神经编码的任务，例如人脑，从而有助于更好地了解知觉障碍的可能原因。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Studies of the molecular biology, structure and function of olfactory systems throughout the animal kingdom reveal many common design features (for example: large set of odorant receptors, precise axonal convergence, oscillatory synchronization of activity) across evolutionary distant animal species such as insects and primates (including humans). Interestingly, many of these design features are implemented differently (for example: different gene sequences, synaptic types and cell morphologies) across these many species: comparing these different implementations and, through this comparison, identifying their common high-level features helps us identify the rules of function of olfactory systems. Because olfactory circuits are tightly associated with memory structures-the memories of smells are particularly vivid and long lasting in humans-understanding olfactory coding also helps us better understand the nature of associative memories and their underlying biology. The present work is geared towards understanding the basic physiology of these olfactory/memory circuits. This work will constitute the electrophysiological foundation on which new cellular and systems studies of olfactory learning can be built in a particularly advantageous model system: experiments will be carried out with the brain of the fruit-fly Drosophifa, taking advantage of a century of genetics and molecular work by hundreds of laboratories on this system: by virtue of their accessibility and knowledge we now have of them, Drosophila genes can be controlled so as to either mark or manipulate specific neurons and circuits. By combining these powerful tools with electrode recordings and fast brain imaging tools, we can examine the role of specific molecules, neurons or synapses for olfactory function. The relatively small size of the Drosophila brain (~100,000 neurons) will also greatly simplify the task of deciphering the nature of neural codes in more complex systems, such as the human brain, thus contributing to a better understanding of the possible causes of perceptual disorders.