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Drosophila glia: Few cell types and many conserved functions
Author(s) -
Yildirim Kerem,
Petri Johanna,
Kottmeier Rita,
Klämbt Christian
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
glia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.954
H-Index - 164
eISSN - 1098-1136
pISSN - 0894-1491
DOI - 10.1002/glia.23459
Subject(s) - biology , drosophila melanogaster , nervous system , neuroscience , drosophila (subgenus) , neuroglia , function (biology) , model organism , computational biology , microbiology and biotechnology , central nervous system , genetics , gene
Glial cells constitute without any dispute an essential element in providing an efficiently operating nervous system. Work in many labs over the last decades has demonstrated that neuronal function, from action potential generation to its propagation, from eliciting synaptic responses to the subsequent postsynaptic integration, is evolutionarily highly conserved. Likewise, the biology of glial cells appears conserved in its core elements and therefore, a deeper understanding of glial cells is expected to benefit from analyzing model organisms such as Drosophila melanogaster . Drosophila is particularly well suited for studying glial biology since in the fly nervous system only a limited number of glial cells exists, which can be individually identified based on position and a set of molecular markers. In combination with the well‐known genetic tool box an unprecedented level of analysis is feasible, that not only can help to identify novel molecules and principles governing glial cell function but also will help to better understand glial functions first identified in the mammalian nervous system. Here we review the current knowledge on Drosophila glia to spark interest in using this system to analyze complex glial traits in the future.