Neuronal Plasticity and Development in Drosophila

Major research interests in this laboratory concern the genetic control of function and development of the nervous system. Currently we focus on mutants of the fruit fly Drosophila with altered nerve excitability and deficiencies in learning behavior. Modifications of properties of ionic channels are analyzed by electrophysiological measurements from nerve and muscle cells. The effects of single-gene mutations and their interactions in double mutants provide clues for the functional organization of the ionic channels that govern neuronal activities and synaptic plasticity. Alterations in the channel function are correlated with molecular genetic data of these mutations to improve our understanding of the underlying molecular mechanisms.

These mutants are also used to study experience-dependent plasticity in the development of the functional organization in the nervous system. The effects of altered nerve activity and physiological properties on the path finding, arborization, and maintenance of neural connectivities are determined in neuronal cultures as well as in genetic mosaics.

Ion Channels, Activity-Dependent Synaptic Plasticity, and Learning Behavior in Drosophila

Synaptic terminals and growth cones in Drosophila mutants deficient in learning ability are analyzed by a combination of electrophysiological, anatomical, and genetic techniques. These Teaming mutants are defective in specific steps of second messenger systems and cause abnormal synaptic function and growth cone motility. Another class of mutations that affect ion channels are used to study the influence of neuronal activity on behavioral and developmental plasticity. Double-mutant combinations allow us to determine how channel activity and second messenger systems interact to regulate neuronal growth and synaptic function required in learning and memory processes. Genetic mosaics can be constructed to analyze the behavioral and physiological consequences of introducing mutant neurons to alter different parts of the neural circuits involved in specific behavioral tasks.

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