The central nervous system (CNS) represents the organ with the highest structural and functional

complexity. Accordingly, uncovering the mechanisms leading to cell diversity, patterning and connectivity in
the CNS is one of the major challenges in developmental biology. The developing CNS of the fruitfly
Drosophila melanogaster is an ideal model system to study these processes. Several principle questions
regarding neurogenesis (like stem cell formation, cell fate specification, axonal pathfinding) have been
addressed in Drosophila by focusing on the relatively simply structured truncal parts of the nervous system.
This book provides an overview of some major facets of recent research on Drosophila brain development.

Philippe P. Laissue and Leslie B. Vosshall

The Olfactory Sensory Map in Drosophila

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The fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) exhibits robust odor-evoked behaviors in response to cues from
diverse host plants and pheromonal cues from other flies. Understanding how the adult olfactory system
supports the perception of these odorous chemicals and translates them into appropriate attraction or
avoidance behaviors is an important goal in contemporary sensory neuroscience. Recent advances in
genomics and molecular neurobiology have provided an unprecedented level of detail into how the adult
Drosophila olfactory system is organized. Volatile odorants are sensed by two bilaterally symmetric olfactory
sensory appendages, the third segment of the antenna and the maxillary palps, which respectively contain
approximately 1200 and 120 olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs) each. These OSNs express a divergent
family of seven transmembrane domain odorant receptors (ORs) with no homology to vertebrate ORs, which
determine the odor specificity of a given OSN. Drosophila was the first animal for which all OR genes were
cloned, their patterns of gene expression determined and axonal projections of most OSNs elucidated. In
vivo electrophysiology has been used to decode the ligand response profiles of most of the ORs, providing
insight into the initial logic of olfactory coding in the fly. This chapter will review the molecular biology,
neuroanatomy and function of the peripheral olfactory system of Drosophila.

Design of the Larval Chemosensory System

This chapter appears in the following book:
Brain Development
in Drosophila melanogaster
Edited by: Gerhard M. Technau
ISBN: 978-0-387-78260-7
» Get more information about this book at landesbioscience.com «

Chapter authors:
Reinhard F. Stocker

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Given that smell and taste are vital senses for most animal species, it is not surprising that chemosensation
has become a strong focus in neurobiological research. Much of what we know today about how the brain
“mirrors” the chemical environment has derived from simple organisms like Drosophila. This is because their
chemosensory system includes only a fraction of the cell number of the mammalian system, yet often
exhibits the same basic design. Recent studies aimed at establishing fruitfly larvae as a particularly simple
model for smell and taste have analyzed the expression patterns of olfactory and gustatory receptors, the
circuitry of the chemosensory system and its behavioral output. Surprisingly, the larval olfactory system
shares the organization of its adult counterpart, though comprising much reduced cell numbers. It thus
indeed provides a “minimal” model system of general importance. Comparing adult and larval chemosensory
systems raises interesting questions about their functional capabilities and about the processes underlying
its transformation through metamorphosis.

Dissection of the Embryonic Brain Using Photoactivated Gene

Expression
This chapter appears in the following book:
Brain Development
in Drosophila melanogaster
Edited by: Gerhard M. Technau
ISBN: 978-0-387-78260-7
» Get more information about this book at landesbioscience.com «

Chapter authors:
Jonathan Minden

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The Drosophila brain is generated by a complex series of morphogenetic movements. To better understand
brain development and to provide a guide for experimental manipulation of brain progenitors, we created a
fate map using photoactivated gene expression to mark cells originating within specific mitotic domains and
time-lapse microscopy to dynamically monitor their progeny. We show that mitotic domains 1, 5, 9, 20 and B
give rise to discrete cell populations within specific regions of the brain. Mitotic domains 1, 5 , 9 and 20 give
rise to brain neurons; mitotic domain B produced glial cells. Mitotic domains 5 and 9 produce the antennal
and visual sensory systems, respectively, where each sensory system is composed of several disparate cell
clusters. Time-lapse analysis of marked cells showed complex mitotic and migratory patterns for cells
derived from these mitotic domains.

Dorsoventral Patterning of the Brain: A Comparative Approach

This chapter appears in the following book:
Brain Development
in Drosophila melanogaster
Edited by: Gerhard M. Technau
ISBN: 978-0-387-78260-7
» Get more information about this book at landesbioscience.com «

Chapter authors:
Rolf Urbach and Gerhard M. Technau

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Development of the central nervous system (CNS) involves the transformation of a two-dimensional
epithelial sheet of uniform ectodermal cells, the neuroectoderm, into a highly complex three-dimensional
structure consisting of a huge variety of different neural cell types. Characteristic numbers of each cell type
become arranged in reproducible spatial patterns, which is a prerequisite for the establishment of specific
functional contacts. Specification of cell fate and regional patterning critical depends on positional
information conferred to neural stem cells early in the neuroectoderm. This chapter compares recent
findings on mechanisms that control the specification of cell fates along the dorsoventral axis during
embryonic development of the CNS in Drosophila and vertebrates. Despite the clear structural differences in
the organization of the CNS in arthropods and vertebrates, corresponding domains within the developing
brain and truncal nervous system express a conserved set of columnar genes (msh/Msx, ind/Gsh, vnd/Nkx)
involved in dorsoventral regionalization. In both Drosophila and mouse the expression of these genes
exhibits distinct differences between the cephalic and truncal part of the CNS. Remarkably, not only the
expression of columnar genes shows striking parallels between both species, but to some extent also their
genetic interactions, suggesting an evolutionary conservation of key regulators of dorsoventral patterning in
the brain in terms of expression and function