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Even-Skipped(+) Interneurons Are Core Components of a Sensorimotor Circuit that Maintains Left-Right Symmetric Muscle Contraction Amplitude.

Published version
Peer-reviewed

Repository DOI


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Authors

Heckscher, Ellie S 
Zarin, Aref Arzan 
Faumont, Serge 
Clark, Matthew Q 
Manning, Laurina 

Abstract

Bilaterally symmetric motor patterns--those in which left-right pairs of muscles contract synchronously and with equal amplitude (such as breathing, smiling, whisking, and locomotion)--are widespread throughout the animal kingdom. Yet, surprisingly little is known about the underlying neural circuits. We performed a thermogenetic screen to identify neurons required for bilaterally symmetric locomotion in Drosophila larvae and identified the evolutionarily conserved Even-skipped(+) interneurons (Eve/Evx). Activation or ablation of Eve(+) interneurons disrupted bilaterally symmetric muscle contraction amplitude, without affecting the timing of motor output. Eve(+) interneurons are not rhythmically active and thus function independently of the locomotor CPG. GCaMP6 calcium imaging of Eve(+) interneurons in freely moving larvae showed left-right asymmetric activation that correlated with larval behavior. TEM reconstruction of Eve(+) interneuron inputs and outputs showed that the Eve(+) interneurons are at the core of a sensorimotor circuit capable of detecting and modifying body wall muscle contraction.

Description

Keywords

Animals, Animals, Genetically Modified, Drosophila Proteins, Functional Laterality, Homeodomain Proteins, Interneurons, Muscle Contraction, Nerve Net, Psychomotor Performance, Transcription Factors

Journal Title

Neuron

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

0896-6273
1097-4199

Volume Title

88

Publisher

Elsevier BV
Sponsorship
Wellcome Trust (092986/Z/10/Z)
This work was supported by NIH grant MH051383 (S.R.L.), American Heart Association #0920025G post-doctoral fellowship (E.S.H.), and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, where C.Q.D. is an Investigator. M.L. was supported by a grant from the Wellcome Trust (092986/Z) and by an Isaac Newton Trust/Wellcome Trust ISSF Research Grant. We thank the HHMI Janelia Fly EM Project Team for providing the raw data of the whole CNS EM volume.