Open AccessGenetic control of development of the mushroom bodies, the associative learning centers in the Drosophila brain, by the eyeless, twin of eyeless , and dachshund genes
Author(s) -
Mitsuhiko Kurusu,
Tomoko Nagao,
Uwe Walldorf,
Susanne Flister,
Walter Gehring,
Katsuo Furukubo-Tokunaga
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of america
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.011
H-Index - 771
eISSN - 1091-6490
pISSN - 0027-8424
DOI - 10.1073/pnas.040564497
Subject(s) - mushroom bodies , pax6 , gene , biology , eye development , genetics , associative learning , drosophila (subgenus) , mutation , neuroscience , transcription factor , drosophila melanogaster
Mushroom bodies (MBs) are the centers for olfactory associative learning and elementary cognitive functions in theDrosophila brain. By high-resolution neuroanatomy, we show thateyeless (ey ),twin of eyeless , anddachshund (dac ), which are implicated in eye development, also are expressed in the developing MBs. Mutations ofey completely disrupted the MB neuropils, and a null mutation ofdac resulted in marked disruption and aberrant axonal projections. Genetic analyses demonstrated that, whereasey anddac synergistically control the structural development of the MBs, the two genes are regulated independently in the course of MB development. These data argue for a distinct combinatorial code of regulatory genes for MBs as compared with eye development and suggest conserved roles ofPax6 homologs in the genetic programs of the olfactory learning centers of complex brains.