Browsing by Subject "Drosophila melanogaster"
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Item Direction Selectivity in Drosophila Proprioceptors Requires the Mechanosensory Channel Tmc(Elsevier, 2019-03-18) He, Liping; Gulyanon, Sarun; Mihovilovic Skanata, Mirna; Karagyozov, Doycho; Heckscher, Ellie S.; Krieg, Michael; Tsechpenakis, Gavriil; Gershow, Marc; Tracey, W. Daniel; Department of Computer and Information sciences, School of ScienceSummary Drosophila Transmembrane channel-like (Tmc) is a protein that functions in larval proprioception. The closely related TMC1 protein is required for mammalian hearing and is a pore-forming subunit of the hair cell mechanotransduction channel. In hair cells, TMC1 is gated by small deflections of microvilli that produce tension on extracellular tip-links that connect adjacent villi. How Tmc might be gated in larval proprioceptors, which are neurons having a morphology that is completely distinct from hair cells, is unknown. Here, we have used high-speed confocal microscopy both to measure displacements of proprioceptive sensory dendrites during larval movement and to optically measure neural activity of the moving proprioceptors. Unexpectedly, the pattern of dendrite deformation for distinct neurons was unique and differed depending on the direction of locomotion: ddaE neuron dendrites were strongly curved by forward locomotion, while the dendrites of ddaD were more strongly deformed by backward locomotion. Furthermore, GCaMP6f calcium signals recorded in the proprioceptive neurons during locomotion indicated tuning to the direction of movement. ddaE showed strong activation during forward locomotion, while ddaD showed responses that were strongest during backward locomotion. Peripheral proprioceptive neurons in animals mutant for Tmc showed a near-complete loss of movement related calcium signals. As the strength of the responses of wild-type animals was correlated with dendrite curvature, we propose that Tmc channels may be activated by membrane curvature in dendrites that are exposed to strain. Our findings begin to explain how distinct cellular systems rely on a common molecular pathway for mechanosensory responses.Item Functional genetic characterization of salivary gland development in Aedes aegypti(Springer Nature, 2013-03-06) Nguyen, Chilinh; Andrews, Emily; Le, Christy; Sun, Longhua; Annan, Zeinab; Clemons, Anthony; Severson, David W.; Duman-Scheel, Molly; Medical and Molecular Genetics, School of MedicineBackground: Despite the devastating global impact of mosquito-borne illnesses on human health, very little is known about mosquito developmental biology. In this investigation, functional genetic analysis of embryonic salivary gland development was performed in Aedes aegypti, the dengue and yellow fever vector and an emerging model for vector mosquito development. Although embryonic salivary gland development has been well studied in Drosophila melanogaster, little is known about this process in mosquitoes or other arthropods. Results: Mosquitoes possess orthologs of many genes that regulate Drosophila melanogaster embryonic salivary gland development. The expression patterns of a large subset of these genes were assessed during Ae. aegypti development. These studies identified a set of molecular genetic markers for the developing mosquito salivary gland. Analysis of marker expression allowed for tracking of the progression of Ae. aegypti salivary gland development in embryos. In Drosophila, the salivary glands develop from placodes located in the ventral neuroectoderm. However, in Ae. aegypti, salivary marker genes are not expressed in placode-like patterns in the ventral neuroectoderm. Instead, marker gene expression is detected in salivary gland rudiments adjacent to the proventriculus. These observations highlighted the need for functional genetic characterization of mosquito salivary gland development. An siRNA- mediated knockdown strategy was therefore employed to investigate the role of one of the marker genes, cyclic-AMP response element binding protein A (Aae crebA), during Ae. aegypti salivary gland development. These experiments revealed that Aae crebA encodes a key transcriptional regulator of the secretory pathway in the developing Ae. aegypti salivary gland. Conclusions: The results of this investigation indicated that the initiation of salivary gland development in Ae. aegypti significantly differs from that of D. melanogaster. Despite these differences, some elements of salivary gland development, including the ability of CrebA to regulate secretory gene expression, are conserved between the two species. These studies underscore the need for further analysis of mosquito developmental genetics and may foster comparative studies of salivary gland development in additional insect species.Item Genetic architecture of subcortical brain structures in 38,851 individuals(Nature, 2019-11) Satizabal, Claudia L.; Adams, Hieab H. H.; Hibar, Derrek P.; White, Charles C.; Knol, Maria J.; Stein, Jason L.; Scholz, Markus; Sargurupremraj, Muralidharan; Jahanshad, Neda; Roshchupkin, Gennady V.; Smith, Albert V.; Bis, Joshua C.; Jian, Xueqiu; Luciano, Michelle; Hofer, Edith; Teumer, Alexander; van der Lee, Sven J.; Yang, Jingyun; Yanek, Lisa R.; Lee, Tom V.; Li, Shuo; Hu, Yanhui; Koh, Jia Yu; Eicher, John D.; Desrivières, Sylvane; Arias-Vasquez, Alejandro; Chauhan, Ganesh; Athanasiu, Lavinia; Rentería, Miguel E.; Kim, Sungeun; Hoehn, David; Armstrong, Nicola J.; Chen, Qiang; Holmes, Avram J.; den Braber, Anouk; Kloszewska, Iwona; Andersson, Micael; Espeseth, Thomas; Grimm, Oliver; Abramovic, Lucija; Alhusaini, Saud; Milaneschi, Yuri; Papmeyer, Martina; Axelsson, Tomas; Ehrlich, Stefan; Roiz-Santiañez, Roberto; Kraemer, Bernd; Håberg, Asta K.; Jones, Hannah J.; Pike, G. Bruce; Stein, Dan J.; Stevens, Allison; Bralten, Janita; Vernooij, Meike W.; Harris, Tamara B.; Filippi, Irina; Witte, A. Veronica; Guadalupe, Tulio; Wittfeld, Katharina; Mosley, Thomas H.; Becker, James T.; Doan, Nhat Trung; Hagenaars, Saskia P.; Saba, Yasaman; Cuellar-Partida, Gabriel; Amin, Najaf; Hilal, Saima; Nho, Kwangsik; Mirza-Schreiber, Nazanin; Arfanakis, Konstantinos; Becker, Diane M.; Ames, David; Goldman, Aaron L.; Lee, Phil H.; Boomsma, Dorret I.; Lovestone, Simon; Giddaluru, Sudheer; Le Hellard, Stephanie; Mattheisen, Manuel; Bohlken, Marc M.; Kasperaviciute, Dalia; Schmaal, Lianne; Lawrie, Stephen M.; Agartz, Ingrid; Walton, Esther; Tordesillas-Gutierrez, Diana; Davies, Gareth E.; Shin, Jean; Ipser, Jonathan C.; Vinke, Louis N.; Hoogman, Martine; Jia, Tianye; Burkhardt, Ralph; Klein, Marieke; Crivello, Fabrice; Janowitz, Deborah; Carmichael, Owen; Haukvik, Unn K.; Aribisala, Benjamin S.; Schmidt, Helena; Strike, Lachlan T.; Cheng, Ching-Yu; Risacher, Shannon L.; Pütz, Benno; Fleischman, Debra A.; Assareh, Amelia A.; Mattay, Venkata S.; Buckner, Randy L.; Mecocci, Patrizia; Dale, Anders M.; Cichon, Sven; Boks, Marco P.; Matarin, Mar; Penninx, Brenda W. J. H.; Calhoun, Vince D.; Chakravarty, M. Mallar; Marquand, Andre F.; Macare, Christine; Kharabian Masouleh, Shahrzad; Oosterlaan, Jaap; Amouyel, Philippe; Hegenscheid, Katrin; Rotter, Jerome I.; Schork, Andrew J.; Liewald, David C. M.; de Zubicaray, Greig I.; Wong, Tien Yin; Shen, Li; Sämann, Philipp G.; Brodaty, Henry; Roffman, Joshua L.; de Geus, Eco J. C.; Tsolaki, Magda; Erk, Susanne; van Eijk, Kristel R.; Cavalleri, Gianpiero L.; van der Wee, Nic J. A.; McIntosh, Andrew M.; Gollub, Randy L.; Bulayeva, Kazima B.; Bernard, Manon; Richards, Jennifer S.; Himali, Jayandra J.; Loeffler, Markus; Rommelse, Nanda; Hoffmann, Wolfgang; Westlye, Lars T.; Valdés Hernández, Maria C.; Hansell, Narelle K.; van Erp, Theo G. M.; Wolf, Christiane; Kwok, John B. J.; Vellas, Bruno; Heinz, Andreas; Olde Loohuis, Loes M.; Delanty, Norman; Ho, Beng-Choon; Ching, Christopher R. K.; Shumskaya, Elena; Singh, Baljeet; Hofman, Albert; van der Meer, Dennis; Homuth, Georg; Psaty, Bruce M.; Bastin, Mark E.; Montgomery, Grant W.; Foroud, Tatiana M.; Reppermund, Simone; Hottenga, Jouke-Jan; Simmons, Andrew; Meyer-Lindenberg, Andreas; Cahn, Wiepke; Whelan, Christopher D.; van Donkelaar, Marjolein M. J.; Yang, Qiong; Hosten, Norbert; Green, Robert C; Thalamuthu, Anbupalam; Mohnke, Sebastian; Hulshoff Pol, Hilleke E.; Lin, Honghuang; Jack, Clifford R.; Schofield, Peter R.; Mühleisen, Thomas W.; Maillard, Pauline; Potkin, Steven G.; Wen, Wei; Fletcher, Evan; Toga, Arthur W.; Gruber, Oliver; Huentelman, Matthew; Davey Smith, George; Launer, Lenore J.; Nyberg, Lars; Jönsson, Erik G.; Crespo-Facorro, Benedicto; Koen, Nastassja; Greve, Douglas N.; Uitterlinden, André G.; Weinberger, Daniel R.; Steen, Vidar M.; Fedko, Iryna O.; Groenewold, Nynke A.; Niessen, Wiro J.; Toro, Roberto; Tzourio, Christophe; Longstreth, William T.; Ikram, M. Kamran; Smoller, Jordan W.; van Tol, Marie-Jose; Sussmann, Jessika E.; Paus, Tomas; Lemaître, Hervé; Schroeter, Matthias L.; Mazoyer, Bernard; Andreassen, Ole A.; Holsboer, Florian; Depondt, Chantal; Veltman, Dick J.; Turner, Jessica A.; Pausova, Zdenka; Schumann, Gunter; van Rooij, Daan; Djurovic, Srdjan; Deary, Ian J.; McMahon, Katie L.; Müller-Myhsok, Bertram; Brouwer, Rachel M.; Soininen, Hilkka; Pandolfo, Massimo; Wassink, Thomas H.; Cheung, Joshua W.; Wolfers, Thomas; Martinot, Jean-Luc; Zwiers, Marcel P.; Nauck, Matthias; Melle, Ingrid; Martin, Nicholas G.; Kanai, Ryota; Westman, Eric; Kahn, René S.; Sisodiya, Sanjay M.; White, Tonya; Saremi, Arvin; van Bokhoven, Hans; Brunner, Han G.; Völzke, Henry; Wright, Margaret J.; van ‘t Ent, Dennis; Nöthen, Markus M.; Ophoff, Roel A.; Buitelaar, Jan K.; Fernández, Guillén; Sachdev, Perminder S.; Rietschel, Marcella; van Haren, Neeltje E. M.; Fisher, Simon E.; Beiser, Alexa S.; Francks, Clyde; Saykin, Andrew J.; Mather, Karen A.; Romanczuk-Seiferth, Nina; Hartman, Catharina A.; DeStefano, Anita L.; Heslenfeld, Dirk J.; Weiner, Michael W.; Walter, Henrik; Hoekstra, Pieter J.; Nyquist, Paul A.; Franke, Barbara; Bennett, David A.; Grabe, Hans J.; Johnson, Andrew D.; Chen, Christopher; van Duijn, Cornelia M.; Lopez, Oscar L.; Fornage, Myriam; Wardlaw, Joanna M.; Schmidt, Reinhold; DeCarli, Charles; De Jager, Philip L.; Villringer, Arno; Debette, Stéphanie; Gudnason, Vilmundur; Medland, Sarah E.; Shulman, Joshua M.; Thompson, Paul M.; Seshadri, Sudha; Ikram, M. Arfan; Medical and Molecular Genetics, School of MedicineSubcortical brain structures are integral to motion, consciousness, emotions and learning. We identified common genetic variation related to the volumes of the nucleus accumbens, amygdala, brainstem, caudate nucleus, globus pallidus, putamen and thalamus, using genome-wide association analyses in almost 40,000 individuals from CHARGE, ENIGMA and UK Biobank. We show that variability in subcortical volumes is heritable, and identify 48 significantly associated loci (40 novel at the time of analysis). Annotation of these loci by utilizing gene expression, methylation and neuropathological data identified 199 genes putatively implicated in neurodevelopment, synaptic signaling, axonal transport, apoptosis, inflammation/infection and susceptibility to neurological disorders. This set of genes is significantly enriched for Drosophila orthologs associated with neurodevelopmental phenotypes, suggesting evolutionarily conserved mechanisms. Our findings uncover novel biology and potential drug targets underlying brain development and disease.Item Hypoxia-inducible factor 1α is required to establish the larval glycolytic program in Drosophila melanogaster(bioRxiv, 2025-01-08) Heidarian, Yasaman; Fasteen, Tess D.; Mungcal, Liam; Buddika, Kasun; Mahmoudzadeh, Nader H.; Nemkov, Travis; D’Alessandro, Angelo; Tennessen, Jason M.; Medicine, School of MedicineThe rapid growth that occurs during Drosophila larval development requires a dramatic rewiring of central carbon metabolism to support biosynthesis. Larvae achieve this metabolic state, in part, by coordinately up-regulating the expression of genes involved in carbohydrate metabolism. The resulting metabolic program exhibits hallmark characteristics of aerobic glycolysis and establishes a physiological state that supports growth. To date, the only factor known to activate the larval glycolytic program is the Drosophila Estrogen-Related Receptor (dERR). However, dERR is dynamically regulated during the onset of this metabolic switch, indicating that other factors must be involved. Here we discover that Sima, the Drosophila ortholog of Hif1α, is also essential for establishing the larval glycolytic program. Using a multi-omics approach, we demonstrate that sima mutants fail to properly activate aerobic glycolysis and die during larval development with metabolic defects that phenocopy dERR mutants. Moreover, we demonstrate that dERR and Sima/Hif1α protein accumulation is mutually dependent, as loss of either transcription factor results in decreased abundance of the other protein. Considering that the mammalian homologs of ERR and Hif1α also cooperatively regulate aerobic glycolysis in cancer cells, our findings establish the fly as a powerful genetic model for studying the interaction between these two key metabolic regulators.Item Hypoxia-inducible factor 1α is required to establish the larval glycolytic program in Drosophila melanogaster(Elsevier, 2025) Heidarian, Yasaman; Fasteen, Tess D.; Mungcal, Liam; Buddika, Kasun; Mahmoudzadeh, Nader H.; Nemkov, Travis; D’Alessandro, Angelo; Tennessen, Jason M.; Biology, School of ScienceObjectives: The rapid growth that occurs during Drosophila larval development requires a dramatic rewiring of central carbon metabolism to support biosynthesis. Larvae achieve this metabolic state, in part, by coordinately up-regulating the expression of genes involved in carbohydrate metabolism. The resulting metabolic program exhibits hallmark characteristics of aerobic glycolysis and establishes a physiological state that supports growth. To date, the only factor known to activate the larval glycolytic program is the Drosophila Estrogen-Related Receptor (dERR). However, dERR is dynamically regulated during the onset of this metabolic switch, indicating that other factors must be involved. Here we examine the possibility that the Drosophila ortholog of Hypoxia inducible factor 1α (Hif1α) is also required to activate the larval glycolytic program. Methods: CRISPR/Cas9 was used to generate new loss-of-function alleles in the Drosophila gene similar (sima), which encodes the sole fly ortholog of Hif1α. The resulting mutant strains were analyzed using a combination of metabolomics and RNAseq for defects in carbohydrate metabolism. Results: Our studies reveal that sima mutants fail to activate aerobic glycolysis and die during larval development with metabolic phenotypes that mimic those displayed by dERR mutants. Moreover, we demonstrate that dERR and Sima/Hif1α protein accumulation is mutually dependent, as loss of either transcription factor results in decreased abundance of the other protein. Conclusions: These findings demonstrate that Sima/HIF1α is required during embryogenesis to coordinately up-regulate carbohydrate metabolism in preparation for larval growth. Notably, our study also reveals that the Sima/HIF1α-dependent gene expression program shares considerable overlap with that observed in dERR mutant, suggesting that Sima/HIF1α and dERR cooperatively regulate embryonic and larval glycolytic gene expression.Item Identification of Aedes aegypti cis-regulatory elements that promote gene expression in olfactory receptor neurons of distantly related dipteran insects(BMC, 2018-07-11) Mysore, Keshava; Li, Ping; Duman-Scheel, Molly; Medical and Molecular Genetics, School of MedicineBACKGROUND: Sophisticated tools for manipulation of gene expression in select neurons, including neurons that regulate sexually dimorphic behaviors, are increasingly available for analysis of genetic model organisms. However, we lack comparable genetic tools for analysis of non-model organisms, including Aedes aegypti, a vector mosquito which displays sexually dimorphic behaviors that contribute to pathogen transmission. Formaldehyde-assisted isolation of regulatory elements followed by sequencing (FAIRE-seq) recently facilitated genome-wide discovery of putative A. aegypti cis-regulatory elements (CREs), many of which could be used to manipulate gene expression in mosquito neurons and other tissues. The goal of this investigation was to identify FAIRE DNA elements that promote gene expression in the olfactory system, a tissue of vector importance. RESULTS: Eight A. aegypti CREs that promote gene expression in antennal olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs) were identified in a Drosophila melanogaster transgenic reporter screen. Four CREs identified in the screen were cloned upstream of GAL4 in a transgenic construct that is compatible with transformation of a variety of insect species. These constructs, which contained FAIRE DNA elements associated with the A. aegypti odorant coreceptor (orco), odorant receptor 1 (Or1), odorant receptor 8 (Or8) and fruitless (fru) genes, were used for transformation of A. aegypti. Six A. aegypti strains, including strains displaying transgene expression in all ORNs, subsets of these neurons, or in a sex-specific fashion, were isolated. The CREs drove transgene expression in A. aegypti that corresponded to endogenous gene expression patterns of the orco, Or1, Or8 and fru genes in the mosquito antenna. CRE activity in A. aegypti was found to be comparable to that observed in D. melanogaster reporter assays. CONCLUSIONS: These results provide further evidence that FAIRE-seq, which can be paired with D. melanogaster reporter screening to test FAIRE DNA element activity in select tissues, is a useful method for identification of mosquito cis-regulatory elements. These findings expand the genetic toolkit available for the study of Aedes neurobiology. Moreover, given that the CREs drive comparable olfactory neural expression in both A. aegypti and D. melanogaster, it is likely that they may function similarly in multiple dipteran insects, including other disease vector mosquito species.Item Requirement for commissureless2 function during dipteran insect nerve cord development(Wiley, 2013-12) Sarro, Joseph; Andrews, Emily; Sun, Longhua; Behura, Susanta K.; Tan, John C.; Zeng, Erliang; Severson, David W.; Duman-Scheel, Molly; Medical & Molecular Genetics, School of MedicineBACKGROUND: In Drosophila melanogaster, commissureless (comm) function is required for proper nerve cord development. Although comm orthologs have not been identified outside of Drosophila species, some insects possess orthologs of Drosophila comm2, which may also regulate embryonic nerve cord development. Here, this hypothesis is explored through characterization of comm2 genes in two disease vector mosquitoes. RESULTS: Culex quinquefasciatus (West Nile and lymphatic filiariasis vector) has three comm2 genes that are expressed in the developing nerve cord. Aedes aegypti (dengue and yellow fever vector) has a single comm2 gene that is expressed in commissural neurons projecting axons toward the midline. Loss of comm2 function in both A. aegypti and D. melanogaster was found to result in loss of commissure defects that phenocopy the frazzled (fra) loss of function phenotypes observed in both species. Loss of fra function in either insect was found to result in decreased comm2 transcript levels during nerve cord development. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this investigation suggest that Fra down-regulates repulsion in precrossing commissural axons by regulating comm2 levels in both A. aegypti and D. melanogaster, both of which require Comm2 function for proper nerve cord development.Item RNA virus-mediated changes in organismal oxygen consumption rate in young and old Drosophila melanogaster males(Impact Journals, 2023) Hagedorn, Eli; Bunnell, Dean; Henschel, Beate; Smith, Daniel L., Jr.; Dickinson, Stephanie; Brown, Andrew W.; De Luca, Maria; Turner, Ashley N.; Chtarbanova, Stanislava; Medicine, School of MedicineAging is accompanied by increased susceptibility to infections including with viral pathogens resulting in higher morbidity and mortality among the elderly. Significant changes in host metabolism can take place following virus infection. Efficient immune responses are energetically costly, and viruses divert host molecular resources to promote their own replication. Virus-induced metabolic reprogramming could impact infection outcomes, however, how this is affected by aging and impacts organismal survival remains poorly understood. RNA virus infection of Drosophila melanogaster with Flock House virus (FHV) is an effective model to study antiviral responses with age, where older flies die faster than younger flies due to impaired disease tolerance. Using this aged host-virus model, we conducted longitudinal, single-fly respirometry studies to determine if metabolism impacts infection outcomes. Analysis using linear mixed models on Oxygen Consumption Rate (OCR) following the first 72-hours post-infection showed that FHV modulates respiration, but age has no significant effect on OCR. However, the longitudinal assessment revealed that OCR in young flies progressively and significantly decreases, while OCR in aged flies remains constant throughout the three days of the experiment. Furthermore, we found that the OCR signature at 24-hours varied in response to both experimental treatment and survival status. FHV-injected flies that died prior to 48- or 72-hours measurements had a lower OCR compared to survivors at 48-hours. Our findings suggest the host's metabolic profile could influence the outcome of viral infections.Item Slo mutants of Escherichia coli: isolation and properties(1972) Newman, Chester N.