Phelps, J.S., Hildebrand, D.G.C., Graham, B.J., Kuan, A.T., Thomas, L.A., Nguyen, T.M., Buhmann, J., Azevedo, A.W., Sustar, A., Agrawal, S., Liu, M., Shanny, B.L., Funke, J., Tuthill, J.C., Lee, W.A. (2021). Reconstruction of motor control circuits in adult Drosophila using automated transmission electron microscopy.  Cell 184(3): 759--774.e18.

FBrf0247998

Research paper

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.

PMC8312698 (PMC) (EuropePMC)