Schmucker D, Jäckle H, Gaul U
Rockefeller University, Laboratory of Developmental Neurogenetics, New York, NY 10021, USA.
Development. 1997 Mar;124(5):937-48. doi: 10.1242/dev.124.5.937.
The Drosophila larval optic nerve, called Bolwig's nerve (BN), projects into the central brain along a simple invariant path. The growth of the BN proceeds in three phases, during which the nerve changes direction at two intermediate targets, P1 and P2. Here we show that the projection of the BN is amenable to genetic dissection. In a mutagenesis screen, we have isolated mutations in 13 genes that disrupt the BN projection in distinct phases of its development. The mutant phenotypes in combination with the expression patterns of corresponding candidate genes define cellular components necessary for directing the growth of the BN toward P2 and for redirecting its growth at P2, and reveal developmental strategies employed in the establishment of the BN projection.
果蝇幼虫的视神经，称为玻尔维格氏神经（BN），沿着一条简单不变的路径投射到中枢脑。BN的生长过程分三个阶段进行，在此期间，神经在两个中间靶点P1和P2处改变方向。我们在此表明，BN的投射适合进行遗传学剖析。在一次诱变筛选中，我们分离出了13个基因的突变，这些突变在BN发育的不同阶段破坏其投射。突变体表型与相应候选基因的表达模式相结合，确定了引导BN向P2生长以及在P2处使其生长重新定向所需的细胞成分，并揭示了在建立BN投射过程中所采用的发育策略。
