Authors
Jasper S Phelps, David Grant Colburn Hildebrand, Brett J Graham, Aaron T Kuan, Logan A Thomas, Tri M Nguyen, Julia Buhmann, Anthony W Azevedo, Anne Sustar, Sweta Agrawal, Mingguan Liu, Brendan L Shanny, Jan Funke, John C Tuthill, Wei-Chung Allen Lee
Publication date
2021/2/4
Journal
Cell
Volume
184
Issue
3
Pages
759-774. e18
Publisher
Elsevier
Description
To investigate circuit mechanisms underlying locomotor behavior, we used serial-section electron microscopy (EM) to acquire a synapse-resolution dataset containing the ventral nerve cord (VNC) of an adult female Drosophila melanogaster. To generate this dataset, we developed GridTape, a technology that combines automated serial-section collection with automated high-throughput transmission EM. Using this dataset, we studied neuronal networks that control leg and wing movements by reconstructing all 507 motor neurons that control the limbs. We show that a specific class of leg sensory neurons synapses directly onto motor neurons with the largest-caliber axons on both sides of the body, representing a unique pathway for fast limb control. We provide open access to the dataset and reconstructions registered to a standard atlas to permit matching of cells between EM and light microscopy data. We also …
Total citations
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