Developmental Determinants of Neuronal Identity in the Drosophila Embryo
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Date
2022-05-10
Authors
Seroka, Austin
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
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Publisher
University of Oregon
Abstract
The complex function of the nervous system is dependent on precise connectionsbetween hundreds of thousands of diverse neurons. During development, a small pool of
neural progenitors is tasked with quickly generating this diverse set of molecularly and
morphologically distinct neuronal subtypes. These neurons are then required to navigate a
complex environment to locate the appropriate synaptic partners, and establish the
circuitry required for behavior. For this reason, identifying the mechanisms used by
neural progenitors to generate the correct neural subtypes is critical to understanding
circuit formation, and behavior itself. During Drosophila development, each neural
progenitor cell, or neuroblast (NB), generates a characteristic set of diverse neuronal
progeny over time. This is accomplished through the process of temporal patterning, in
which each NB sequentially expresses a cascade of temporal transcription factors (tTFs),
giving rise to molecularly distinct neuronal progeny in each expression window. These
tTFs are only transiently expressed; little is known about their downstream effectors and
how they specify and maintain the unique molecular and morphological properties of
each neuronal subtype throughout larval life. Our central hypothesis, is that each tTF
induces or represses a combinatorial set of downstream identity transcription factors
(iTFs), which in turn drive the expression of mature neuronal genes such as those
encoding neurotransmitter machinery, ion channels, cell-surface protein expression and
higher-order morphological features. Investigating the downstream targets of tTFs in a
distinct embryonic lineage through single-cell sequencing will resolve this gap in
understanding.
This dissertation includes previously published, co-authored material.
Description
Keywords
axon guidance, drosophila embryo, motor neurons, neuronal morphology, synaptic connectivity, temporal patterning