DETERMINANTS OF DROSOPHILA RETINAL AXON TARGET SELECTION

Massachusetts Institute Of Technology, Cambridge MA

Investigators

Abstract

Understanding how the complex interconnectivity of the nervous system is established represents one of the major goals of developmental neurobiology. This project will use the Drosophila visual system as a model system to investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying axon target selection. The three sub-types of photoreceptor neurons (R cells) in each facet of the compound eye project along a shared pathway, but connect to neurons in different layers in the optic lobe. This sub-type specific axon targeting appears to involve differential gene expression. I will use a genetic screen based on visual behavior to identify genes expressed in sub-type specific patterns. Identified genes will then be assessed for their roles in R-cell subtype specification including sub-type identity, axon guidance and synaptic specificity. This should result in isolation of photoreceptor sub-type specific molecules including regulators of sub-type specific gene expression as well as axon guidance signaling molecules (eg., receptors) which determine the specificity of photoreceptor target selection.