The adult neck connective

The neck connectome

Project

In most complex nervous systems, there is a clear anatomical separation between the ventral cord in the animal's thorax and abdomen, which contains most of the motor end products necessary for behavior, and the brain. In insects, the cervical connective is both a physical and an informational bottleneck that connects the brain to the ventral nerve cord (VNC, analogous to the spinal cord) and includes distinct populations of descending (DN), ascending (AN), and sensory ascending neurons that are critical for sensorimotor signaling and control. A complete reconstruction of the cervical connective, the junction between the brain and the ventral cord, therefore provides important insight into understanding how the brain controls behavior. 

Approach

By integrating three separate EM datasets, we aim to provide a complete connectomic description of the ascending and descending neurons of the Drosophila female nervous system and compare them with the neurons of the male nerve cord. Proofread neuronal reconstructions will be matched across hemispheres, datasets and sexes. We will then compare the cell types identified by electron microscopy with light microscopy brain scans to define specific driver lineages and classify all ascending cell populations.

Aim

The aim of this work is to uncover the general architecture, pathways, innervation and connectivity of cervical neurons. We aim to identify interconnected circuits of descending and ascending neurons that extend across the neck and potentially support motor processes. Similarly, we reconstruct a complete description of sexually dimorphic populations of descending and ascending neurons with a detailed analysis of circuits involved in sex-specific behaviors, such as female ovipositor ejection, male courtship, and song production. This work is thus the first analysis of circuits at the electron microscopic level that encompasses the entire central nervous system of an adult animal.

Publications

• Network statistics of the whole-brain connectome of Drosophila
  Lin A, Yang R, Dorkenwald S, Matsliah A, Sterling AR, Schlegel P, Yu SC, McKellar CE, Costa M, Eichler K, Bates AS, Eckstein N, Funke J, Jefferis GSXE, Murthy M.
  Nature. 2024 Oct;634(8032):153-165.
  DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07968-y  

   

• The fly connectome reveals a path to the effectome.
  Pospisil DA, Aragon MJ, Dorkenwald S, Matsliah A, Sterling AR, Schlegel P, Yu SC, McKellar CE, Costa M, Eichler K, Jefferis GSXE, Murthy M, Pillow JW.
  Nature. 2024 Oct;634(8032):201-209.
  DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07982-0.

   

• Whole-brain annotation and multi-connectome cell typing of Drosophila.
  Schlegel P, Yin Y, Bates AS, Dorkenwald S, Eichler K, Brooks P, Han DS, Gkantia M, Dos Santos M, Munnelly EJ, Badalamente G, Serratosa Capdevila L, Sane VA, Fragniere AMC, Kiassat L, Pleijzier MW, Stürner T, Tamimi IFM, Dunne CR, Salgarella I, Javier A, Fang S, Perlman E, Kazimiers T, Jagannathan SR, Matsliah A, Sterling AR, Yu SC, McKellar CE; FlyWire Consortium; Costa M, Seung HS, Murthy M, Hartenstein V, Bock DD, Jefferis GSXE.
  Nature. 2024 Oct;634(8032):139-152.
  DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07686-5

   

• Neural circuit mechanisms underlying context-specific halting in Drosophila.
  Sapkal N, Mancini N, Kumar DS, Spiller N, Murakami K, Vitelli G, Bargeron B, Maier K, Eichler K, Jefferis GSXE, Shiu PK, Sterne GR, Bidaye SS.
  Nature. 2024 Oct;634(8032):191-200.
  DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07854-7

   

• A Drosophila computational brain model reveals sensorimotor processing.
  Shiu PK, Sterne GR, Spiller N, Franconville R, Sandoval A, Zhou J, Simha N, Kang CH, Yu S, Kim JS, Dorkenwald S, Matsliah A, Schlegel P, Yu SC, McKellar CE, Sterling A, Costa M, Eichler K, Bates AS, Eckstein N, Funke J, Jefferis GSXE, Murthy M, Bidaye SS, Hampel S, Seeds AM, Scott K.
  Nature. 2024 Oct;634(8032):210-219
  DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07763-9

   

• Neuronal wiring diagram of an adult brain.
  Dorkenwald S, Matsliah A, Sterling AR, Schlegel P, Yu SC, McKellar CE, Lin A, Costa M, Eichler K, Yin Y, Silversmith W, Schneider-Mizell C, Jordan CS, Brittain D, Halageri A, Kuehner K, Ogedengbe O, Morey R, Gager J, Kruk K, Perlman E, Yang R, Deutsch D, Bland D, Sorek M, Lu R, Macrina T, Lee K, Bae JA, Mu S, Nehoran B, Mitchell E, Popovych S, Wu J, Jia Z, Castro MA, Kemnitz N, Ih D, Bates AS, Eckstein N, Funke J, Collman F, Bock DD, Jefferis GSXE, Seung HS, Murthy M; FlyWire Consortium.
  Nature. 2024 Oct;634(8032):124-138
  DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07558-y

   

• Neurotransmitter classification from electron microscopy images at synaptic sites in Drosophila melanogaster.
  Eckstein N, Bates AS, Champion A, Du M, Yin Y, Schlegel P, Lu AK, Rymer T, Finley-May S, Paterson T, Parekh R, Dorkenwald S, Matsliah A, Yu SC, McKellar C, Sterling A, Eichler K, Costa M, Seung S, Murthy M, Hartenstein V, Jefferis GSXE, Funke J.
  Cell. 2024 May 9;187(10):2574-2594.e23.
  DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2024.03.016

   

• Somatotopic organization among parallel sensory pathways that promote a grooming sequence in Drosophila. 
  Eichler K, Hampel S, Alejandro-García A, Calle-Schuler SA, Santana-Cruz A, Kmecova L, Blagburn JM, Hoopfer ED, Seeds AM.
  Elife. 2024 Apr 18;12:RP87602.
  DOI: 10.7554/eLife.87602

   

• A Connectome of the Male Drosophila Ventral Nerve Cord.
  Takemura S, Hayworth KJ, Huang GB, Januszewski M, Lu Z, Marin EC, Preibisch S, Xu CS, Bogovic J, Champion AS, Cheong HSJ, Costa M, Eichler K, Katz W, Knecht C, Li F, Morris BJ, Ordish C, Rivlin PK, Schlegel P, Shinomiya K, Stürner T, Zhao T, Badalamente G, Bailey D, Brooks P, Canino BS, Clements J, Cook M, Duclos O, Dunne CR, Fairbanks K, Fang S, Finley-May S, Francis A, George R, Gkantia M, Harrington K, Hopkins GP, Hsu J, Hubbard PM, Javier A, Kainmueller D, Korff W, Kovalyak J, Krzemiński D, Lauchie SA, Lohff A, Maldonado C, Manley EA, Mooney C, Neace E, Nichols M, Ogundeyi O, Okeoma N, Paterson T, Phillips E, Phillips EM, Ribeiro C, Ryan SM, Rymer JT, Scott AK, Scott AL, Shepherd D, Shinomiya A, Smith C, Smith N, Suleiman A, Takemura S, Talebi I, Tamimi IFM, Trautman ET, Umayam L, Walsh JJ, Yang T, Rubin GM, Scheffer LK, Funke J, Saalfeld S, Hess HF, Plaza SM, Card GM, Jefferis GSXE, Berg S.
  ELife. 2024 May 23; 13:RP97769.
  DOI: 10.7554/eLife.97769.1

   

• Systematic annotation of a complete adult male Drosophila nerve cord connectome reveals principles of functional organisation.
  Marin EC, Morris BJ, Stürner T, Champion AS, Krzeminski D, Badalamente G, Gkantia M, Dunne CR, Eichler K, Takemura S, Tamimi IFM, Fang S, Moon SS, Cheong HSJ, Li F, Schlegel P, Ahnert SE, Berg S, Janelia FlyEM Project Team, Card GM, Costa M, Shepherd D, Jefferis GSXE.
  ELife 2024 July 22; 13:RP97766
  DOI: 10.7554/ELife.97766.1

   

• Transforming descending input into behavior: The organization of premotor circuits in the Drosophila Male Adult Nerve Cord connectome.
  Cheong HSJ, Eichler K, Stürner T, Asinof SA, Champion AS, Marin EC, Oram TB, Sumathipala M, Venkatasubramanian L, Namiki S, Siwanowicz I, Costa M, Berg S, Janelia FlyEM Project Team, Jefferis GSXE, Card GM.
  ELife 2024 March 18; 13:RP96084
  DOI: 10.7554/eLife.96084.1