1. Reconstruction of motor control circuits in adult Drosophila using automated transmission electron microscopy
- Author
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Jan Funke, Logan A. Thomas, Tri Nguyen, Wei-Chung Allen Lee, Jasper S. Phelps, Anne Sustar, David G. C. Hildebrand, Brett J. Graham, John C. Tuthill, Julia Buhmann, Brendan L. Shanny, Aaron T. Kuan, Mingguan Liu, Anthony W. Azevedo, and Sweta Agrawal
- Subjects
Connectomics ,Aging ,Sensory Receptor Cells ,Sensory system ,Biology ,General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology ,Article ,03 medical and health sciences ,Automation ,0302 clinical medicine ,Software ,Microscopy, Electron, Transmission ,Connectome ,Animals ,Computer vision ,Instrumentation (computer programming) ,Peripheral Nerves ,030304 developmental biology ,Electronic circuit ,Motor Neurons ,0303 health sciences ,business.industry ,Motor control ,Extremities ,Drosophila melanogaster ,Transmission (telecommunications) ,Ventral nerve cord ,Synapses ,Artificial intelligence ,business ,030217 neurology & neurosurgery - Abstract
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 provide GridTape instrumentation designs and software to make large-scale EM more accessible and affordable to the scientific community.
- Published
- 2019