Nottebohm E, Dambly-Chaudière C, Ghysen A
Laboratories de Neurobiologie et de Génétique, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Rhode-St-Genèse, Belgium.
Nature. 1992 Oct 29;359(6398):829-32. doi: 10.1038/359829a0.
The function of the nervous system depends on the formation of a net of appropriate connections, but little is known of the genetic program underlying this process. In Drosophila two genes that specify different types of sense organs have been identified: cut (ct), which specifies the formation of external sense organs as opposed to chordotonal organs, and pox-neuro (poxn), which specifies the formation of poly-innervated (chemosensory) organs as opposed to mono-innervated (mechanosensory) organs. Whether these genes are also involved in specifying the connectivity of the corresponding neurons is not known. The larval sense organs are unsuitable for analysis of the axonal pathway and connections and so we have investigated the effect of poxn on the adult. Here we show that overexpression of poxn induces the morphological transformation of mechanosensory into chemosensory bristles on the legs and that the neurons innervating the morphologically transformed bristles follow pathways and establish connections that are appropriate for chemosensory bristles.
神经系统的功能依赖于适当连接网络的形成，但对于这一过程背后的遗传程序却知之甚少。在果蝇中，已鉴定出两个指定不同类型感觉器官的基因：cut（ct），它指定外部感觉器官而非弦音器官的形成；以及pox-neuro（poxn），它指定多神经支配（化学感受）器官而非单神经支配（机械感受）器官的形成。这些基因是否也参与指定相应神经元的连接尚不清楚。幼虫的感觉器官不适合用于分析轴突通路和连接，因此我们研究了poxn对成虫的影响。在此我们表明，poxn的过表达诱导腿部机械感觉刚毛向化学感觉刚毛的形态转变，并且支配形态转变刚毛的神经元遵循适合化学感觉刚毛的通路并建立连接。
