@article {68557, title = {Neuromuscular embodiment of feedback control elements in flight.}, journal = {Science Advances}, volume = {8}, year = {2022}, month = {2022 Dec 14}, pages = {eabo7461}, abstract = {

While insects such as are flying, aerodynamic instabilities require that they make millisecond time scale adjustments to their wing motion to stay aloft and on course. These stabilization reflexes can be modeled as a proportional-integral (PI) controller; however, it is unclear how such control might be instantiated in insects at the level of muscles and neurons. Here, we show that the b1 and b2 motor units-prominent components of the fly{\textquoteright}s steering muscle system-modulate specific elements of the PI controller: the angular displacement (integral) and angular velocity (proportional), respectively. Moreover, these effects are observed only during the stabilization of pitch. Our results provide evidence for an organizational principle in which each muscle contributes to a specific functional role in flight control, a finding that highlights the power of using top-down behavioral modeling to guide bottom-up cellular manipulation studies.

}, issn = {2375-2548}, doi = {10.1126/sciadv.abo7461}, author = {Whitehead, Samuel C and Leone, Sofia and Lindsay, Theodore and Meiselman, Matthew R and Cowan, Noah J and Dickinson, Michael H and Yapici, Nilay and Stern, David L and Shirangi, Troy and Cohen, Itai} } @article {65723, title = {A systematic nomenclature for the Drosophila ventral nerve cord.}, journal = {Neuron}, volume = {107}, year = {2020}, month = {2020 Sep 14}, pages = {1071-79}, abstract = {

Drosophila melanogaster is an established model for neuroscience research with relevance in biology and medicine. Until recently, research on the Drosophila brain was hindered by the lack of a complete and uniform nomenclature. Recognizing this, Ito et\ al. (2014) produced an authoritative nomenclature for the adult insect brain, using Drosophila as the reference. Here, we extend this nomenclature to the adult thoracic and abdominal neuromeres, the ventral nerve cord (VNC), to provide an anatomical description of this major component of the Drosophila nervous system. The VNC is the locus for the reception and integration of sensory information and involved in generating most of the locomotor actions that underlie fly behaviors. The aim is to create a nomenclature, definitions, and spatial boundaries for the Drosophila VNC that are consistent with other insects. The work establishes an anatomical framework that provides a powerful tool for analyzing the functional organization of the VNC.

}, issn = {1097-4199}, doi = {10.1016/j.neuron.2020.08.005}, author = {Court, Robert and Namiki, Shigehiro and Armstrong, J Douglas and Borner, Jana and Card, Gwyneth and Costa, Marta and Dickinson, Michael and Duch, Carsten and Korff, Wyatt and Mann, Richard and Merritt, David and Murphey, Rod K and Seeds, Andrew M and Shirangi, Troy and Simpson, Julie H and Truman, James W and Tuthill, John C and Williams, Darren W and Shepherd, David} } @article {2471, title = {Drosophila retained/dead ringer is necessary for neuronal pathfinding, female receptivity and repression of fruitless independent male courtship behaviors.}, journal = {Development}, volume = {132}, year = {2005}, month = {2005 Jan}, pages = {155-64}, abstract = {

Mutations in the Drosophila retained/dead ringer (retn) gene lead to female behavioral defects and alter a limited set of neurons in the CNS. retn is implicated as a major repressor of male courtship behavior in the absence of the fruitless (fru) male protein. retn females show fru-independent male-like courtship of males and females, and are highly resistant to courtship by males. Males mutant for retn court with normal parameters, although feminization of retn cells in males induces bisexuality. Alternatively spliced RNAs appear in the larval and pupal CNS, but none shows sex specificity. Post-embryonically, retn RNAs are expressed in a limited set of neurons in the CNS and eyes. Neural defects of retn mutant cells include mushroom body beta-lobe fusion and pathfinding errors by photoreceptor and subesophageal neurons. We posit that some of these retn-expressing cells function to repress a male behavioral pathway activated by fruM.

}, keywords = {Alternative Splicing, Animal, Animals, Behavior, Central Nervous System, Complementary, Crosses, DNA, Drosophila melanogaster, Drosophila Proteins, Female, Genetic, Homeodomain Proteins, Male, Mice, Models, Mutation, Nerve Tissue Proteins, Neurons, Nuclear Proteins, Point Mutation, Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction, RNA, Sequence Analysis, Sex Factors, Sexual Behavior, Transcription Factors}, issn = {0950-1991}, doi = {10.1242/dev.01568}, author = {Ditch, Lynn M and Shirangi, Troy and Pitman, Jeffrey L and Latham, Kristin L and Finley, Kim D and Edeen, Philip T and Taylor, Barbara J and McKeown, Michael} }