Ebony protein in the Drosophila nervous system: optic neuropile expression in glial cells

A Closer Look at Histamine in Drosophila

The present work intends to provide a closer look at histamine in Drosophila. This choice is motivated firstly because Drosophila has proven over the years to be a very simple, but powerful, model organism abundantly assisting scientists in explaining not only normal functions, but also derangements that occur in higher organisms, not excluding humans. Secondly, because histamine has been demonstrated to be a pleiotropic master molecule in pharmacology and immunology, with increasingly recognized roles also in the nervous system. Indeed, it interacts with various neurotransmitters and controls functions such as learning, memory, circadian rhythm, satiety, energy balance, nociception, and motor circuits, not excluding several pathological conditions. In view of this, our review is focused on the knowledge that the use of Drosophila has added to the already vast histaminergic field. In particular, we have described histamine's actions on photoreceptors sustaining the visual system and synchronizing circadian rhythms, but also on temperature preference, courtship behavior, and mechanosensory transmission. In addition, we have highlighted the pathophysiological consequences of mutations on genes involved in histamine metabolism and signaling. By promoting critical discussion and further research, our aim is to emphasize and renew the importance of histaminergic research in biomedicine through the exploitation of Drosophila, hopefully extending the scientific debate to the academic, industry, and general public audiences.

Axonal self-sorting without target guidance in Drosophila visual map formation

The idea of guidance toward a target is central to axon pathfinding and brain wiring in general. In this work, we show how several thousand axonal growth cones self-pattern without target-dependent guidance during neural superposition wiring in Drosophila. Ablation of all target lamina neurons or loss of target adhesion prevents the stabilization but not the development of the pattern. Intravital imaging at the spatiotemporal resolution of growth cone dynamics in intact pupae and data-driven dynamics simulations reveal a mechanism by which >30,000 filopodia do not explore potential targets, but instead simultaneously generate and navigate a dynamic filopodial meshwork that steers growth directions. Hence, a guidance mechanism can emerge from the interactions of the axons being guided, suggesting self-organization as a more general feature of brain wiring.

A niche-derived non-ribosomal peptide triggers planarian sexual development

Germ cells are regulated by local microenvironments (niches), which secrete instructive cues. Conserved developmental signaling molecules act as niche-derived regulatory factors, yet other types of niche signals remain to be identified. Single-cell RNA-sequencing of sexual planarians revealed niche cells expressing a non-ribosomal peptide synthetase (nrps). Inhibiting nrps led to loss of female reproductive organs and testis hyperplasia. Mass spectrometry detected the dipeptide β-alanyl-tryptamine (BATT), which is associated with reproductive system development and requires nrps and a monoamine-transmitter-synthetic enzyme (AADC) for its production. Exogenous BATT rescued the reproductive defects after nrps or aadc inhibition, restoring fertility. Thus, a non-ribosomal, monoamine-derived peptide provided by niche cells acts as a critical signal to trigger planarian reproductive development. These findings reveal an unexpected function for monoamines in niche-germ cell signaling. Furthermore, given the recently reported role for BATT as a male-derived factor required for reproductive maturation of female schistosomes, these results have important implications for the evolution of parasitic flatworms and suggest a potential role for non-ribosomal peptides as signaling molecules in other organisms.

Drosophila mutants lacking the glial neurotransmitter-modifying enzyme Ebony exhibit low neurotransmitter levels and altered behavior

Inhibitors of enzymes that inactivate amine neurotransmitters (dopamine, serotonin), such as catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) and monoamine oxidase (MAO), are thought to increase neurotransmitter levels and are widely used to treat Parkinson's disease and psychiatric disorders, yet the role of these enzymes in regulating behavior remains unclear. Here, we investigated the genetic loss of a similar enzyme in the model organism Drosophila melanogaster. Because the enzyme Ebony modifies and inactivates amine neurotransmitters, its loss is assumed to increase neurotransmitter levels, increasing behaviors such as aggression and courtship and decreasing sleep. Indeed, ebony mutants have been described since 1960 as "aggressive mutants," though this behavior has not been quantified. Using automated machine learning-based analyses, we quantitatively confirmed that ebony mutants exhibited increased aggressive behaviors such as boxing but also decreased courtship behaviors and increased sleep. Through tissue-specific knockdown, we found that ebony's role in these behaviors was specific to glia. Unexpectedly, direct measurement of amine neurotransmitters in ebony brains revealed that their levels were not increased but reduced. Thus, increased aggression is the anomalous behavior for this neurotransmitter profile. We further found that ebony mutants exhibited increased aggression only when fighting each other, not when fighting wild-type controls. Moreover, fights between ebony mutants were less likely to end with a clear winner than fights between controls or fights between ebony mutants and controls. In ebony vs. control fights, ebony mutants were more likely to win. Together, these results suggest that ebony mutants exhibit prolonged aggressive behavior only in a specific context, with an equally dominant opponent.

Drosophila HisT is a specific histamine transporter that contributes to histamine recycling in glia

Histamine is an important monoamine neurotransmitter that regulates multiple physiological activities in both vertebrates and invertebrates. Clearance and recycling of histamine are critical for sustaining histaminergic transmission. However, unlike other monoamine neurotransmitters, a histamine-specific transporter capable of clearing histamine from the synaptic cleft has not been identified. Here, through an in vitro histamine uptake screening, we identified an epithelial glia-expressing transporter, HisT (Histamine Transporter), that specifically transports histamine into cells. HisT misexpression in both pre- and postsynaptic neurons revealed a critical in vivo role for HisT in histamine transport and synaptic transmission. Last, we generated null hist alleles and demonstrated key physiological roles of HisT in maintaining histamine pools and sustaining visual transmission when the de novo synthesis of histamine synthesis was reduced. Our work identifies the first transporter that specifically recycles histamine and further indicates that the histamine clearance pathway may involve both the uptake-1 and uptake-2 transport systems.

Whole-cell biotransformation for large scale production of carcinine in Escherichia coli

Carcinine is a natural imidazole-containing peptide derivative. It is widely used in the cosmetics industry as anti-aging supplement with antioxidant, anti-glycation and glycation reversal functions, and it also has a notable pharmacological effect as anti-tumor drug and in protection against retinopathy. However, a technological method for synthesis and production of carcinine has not been established. In this study, a whole-cell transformation system converting β-alanine and histamine to carcinine by the enzymes Ebony and phosphopantetheine transferase (Sfp) has been developed. The results revealed that the catalytic efficiency of the strain containing the fusion protein of Ebony and Sfp (Sfp-glycine-serine-glycine-Ebony, SGE) in Escherichia coli W3110 (WSGE strain) is significantly higher (7.45 mM) than the combinatorial strain of pET28a-ebony and pACYCDuet-sfp in E. coli BL21(DE3) (BSE strain) (2.17 mM). Under the optimal reaction conditions (25 ℃, pH 7.0, 12.5 g/L wet cells, 20 mM β-alanine and 40 mM histamine), the carcinine can be quickly synthesized within 24 h up to a concentration of 22.63 mM. To achieve a continuous and efficient conversion of the precursors, a batch-feeding catalysis was designed. With this system, β-alanine (40 mM) and histamine (40 mM) could be completely transformed to carcinine (40.34 mM) in 36 h with a productivity of 0.204 g/L h reaching a titer of 7.34 g/L. Hence, the batch-feeding whole-cell biocatalysis is a promising technology for the high yield production of carcinine which can promote the industrial production of carcinine.

Tadr Is an axonal histidine transporter required for visual neurotransmission in Drosophila

Neurotransmitters are generated by de novo synthesis and are essential for sustained, high-frequency synaptic transmission. Histamine, a monoamine neurotransmitter, is synthesized through decarboxylation of histidine by Histidine decarboxylase (Hdc). However, little is known about how histidine is presented to Hdc as a precursor. Here, we identified a specific histidine transporter, TADR (Torn And Diminished Rhabdomeres), which is required for visual transmission in Drosophila. Both TADR and Hdc localized to neuronal terminals, and mutations in tadr reduced levels of histamine, thus disrupting visual synaptic transmission and phototaxis behavior. These results demonstrate that a specific amino acid transporter provides precursors for monoamine neurotransmitters, providing the first genetic evidence that a histidine amino acid transporter plays a critical role in synaptic transmission. These results suggest that TADR-dependent local de novo synthesis of histamine is required for synaptic transmission.

Melanic pigmentation and light preference within and between two Drosophila species

Environmental adaptation and species divergence often involve suites of co-evolving traits. Pigmentation in insects presents a variable, adaptive, and well-characterized class of phenotypes for which correlations with multiple other traits have been demonstrated. In Drosophila, the pigmentation genes ebony and tan have pleiotropic effects on flies' response to light, creating the potential for correlated evolution of pigmentation and vision. Here, we investigate differences in light preference within and between two sister species, Drosophila americana and D. novamexicana, which differ in pigmentation in part because of evolution at ebony and tan and occupy environments that differ in many variables including solar radiation. We hypothesized that lighter pigmentation would be correlated with a greater preference for environmental light and tested this hypothesis using a habitat choice experiment. In a first set of experiments, using males of D. novamexicana line N14 and D. americana line A00, the light-bodied D. novamexicana was found slightly but significantly more often than D. americana in the light habitat. A second experiment, which included additional lines and females as well as males, failed to find any significant difference between D. novamexicana-N14 and D. americana-A00. Additionally, the other dark line of D. americana (A04) was found in the light habitat more often than the light-bodied D. novamexicana-N14, in contrast to our predictions. However, the lightest line of D. americana, A01, was found substantially and significantly more often in the light habitat than the two darker lines of D. americana, thus providing partial support for our hypothesis. Finally, across all four lines, females were found more often in the light habitat than their more darkly pigmented male counterparts. Additional replication is needed to corroborate these findings and evaluate conflicting results, with the consistent effect of sex within and between species providing an especially intriguing avenue for further research.

Vesicular neurotransmitter transporters in Drosophila melanogaster

Drosophila melanogaster express vesicular transporters for the storage of neurotransmitters acetylcholine, biogenic amines, GABA, and glutamate. The large array of powerful molecular-genetic tools available in Drosophila enhances the use of this model organism for studying transporter function and regulation.

Better Sleep at Night: How Light Influences Sleep in Drosophila

Sleep-like states have been described in Drosophila and the mechanisms and factors that generate and define sleep-wake profiles in this model organism are being thoroughly investigated. Sleep is controlled by both circadian and homeostatic mechanisms, and environmental factors such as light, temperature, and social stimuli are fundamental in shaping and confining sleep episodes into the correct time of the day. Among environmental cues, light seems to have a prominent function in modulating the timing of sleep during the 24 h and, in this review, we will discuss the role of light inputs in modulating the distribution of the fly sleep-wake cycles. This phenomenon is of growing interest in the modern society, where artificial light exposure during the night is a common trait, opening the possibility to study Drosophila as a model organism for investigating shift-work disorders.

Drosophila Zic family member odd-paired is needed for adult post-ecdysis maturation

Specific neuropeptides regulate in arthropods the shedding of the old cuticle (ecdysis) followed by maturation of the new cuticle. In Drosophila melanogaster, the last ecdysis occurs at eclosion from the pupal case, with a post-eclosion behavioural sequence that leads to wing extension, cuticle stretching and tanning. These events are highly stereotyped and are controlled by a subset of crustacean cardioactive peptide (CCAP) neurons through the expression of the neuropeptide Bursicon (Burs). We have studied the role of the transcription factor Odd-paired (Opa) during the post-eclosion period. We report that opa is expressed in the CCAP neurons of the central nervous system during various steps of the ecdysis process and in peripheral CCAP neurons innerving the larval muscles involved in adult ecdysis. We show that its downregulation alters Burs expression in the CCAP neurons. Ectopic expression of Opa, or the vertebrate homologue Zic2, in the CCAP neurons also affects Burs expression, indicating an evolutionary functional conservation. Finally, our results show that, independently of its role in Burs regulation, Opa prevents death of CCAP neurons during larval development.

The yellow gene influences Drosophila male mating success through sex comb melanization

Drosophila melanogaster males perform a series of courtship behaviors that, when successful, result in copulation with a female. For over a century, mutations in the yellow gene, named for its effects on pigmentation, have been known to reduce male mating success. Prior work has suggested that yellow influences mating behavior through effects on wing extension, song, and/or courtship vigor. Here, we rule out these explanations, as well as effects on the nervous system more generally, and find instead that the effects of yellow on male mating success are mediated by its effects on pigmentation of male-specific leg structures called sex combs. Loss of yellow expression in these modified bristles reduces their melanization, which changes their structure and causes difficulty grasping females prior to copulation. These data illustrate why the mechanical properties of anatomy, not just neural circuitry, must be considered to fully understand the development and evolution of behavior.

More than 100 years ago, Nobel-prize winning geneticist Thomas Hunt Morgan and his colleagues discovered that some fruit flies inherited genetic mutations that caused their body color to change. The yellow flies had a mutation in one specific gene and these mutants did not only look different from normal flies, they behaved differently too. Specifically, yellow males were far less successful at mating than normal males, demonstrating for the first time that some behaviors had a genetic basis.

Since then it has remained a mystery how the genetic mutations that cause yellow coloration in fruit flies lead to unsuccessful mating attempts. Geneticists have long suggested that mutations in insect pigment genes cause changes in the fly’s brain because these pigments are made from dopamine, a chemical messenger that acts in the brain. They proposed that yellow flies must have altered levels of dopamine in their brains which was causing them to fail at mating.

To solve this mystery, Massey et al. used a series of genetic experiments and high speed-videos to assess how mutations in male yellow fruit flies affected their mating behavior. The experiments showed that yellow fruit flies mated poorly not because of changes in their brain but because of changes in specialized structures on their legs called sex combs. The yellow males lack melanin pigments in their sex combs, which changes their structure. As a result, the yellow males would court female flies but were then unable to grab and mount them. This explains why yellow flies often fail to mate and why fruit flies have sex combs in the first place.

The study reveals the importance of scientists considering that genes that affect behavior may do so by changing anatomy rather than by altering the brain. The results also may benefit those working to control insect pests. For example, they could help insect pest managers to develop strategies that prevent reproduction in other insects that spread disease or destroy crops.

The biosynthetic diversity of the animal world

Secondary metabolites are often considered within the remit of bacterial or plant research, but animals also contain a plethora of these molecules with important functional roles. Classical feeding studies demonstrate that, whereas some are derived from diet, many of these compounds are made within the animals. In the past 15 years, the genetic and biochemical origin of several animal natural products has been traced to partnerships with symbiotic bacteria. More recently, a number of animal genome-encoded pathways to microbe-like natural products have come to light. These pathways are sometimes horizontally acquired from bacteria, but more commonly they unveil a new and diverse animal biochemistry. In this review, we highlight recent examples of characterized animal biosynthetic enzymes that reveal an unanticipated breadth and intricacy in animal secondary metabolism. The results so far suggest that there may be an immense diversity of animal small molecules and biosynthetic enzymes awaiting discovery. This biosynthetic dark matter is just beginning to be understood, providing a relatively untapped frontier for discovery.

The glial sodium-potassium-2-chloride cotransporter is required for synaptic transmission in the Drosophila visual system

The Drosophila Ncc69 gene encodes a Na⁺-K⁺-2Cl⁻-cotransporter (NKCC) that is critical for regulating intra- and extracellular ionic conditions in different tissues. Here, we show that the Ncc69 transporter is necessary for fly vision and that its expression is required non-autonomously in glia to maintain visual synaptic transmission. Flies mutant for Ncc69 exhibit normal photoreceptor depolarization in response to a light pulse but lack the ON and OFF-transients characteristic of postsynaptic responses of lamina neurons, indicating a failure in synaptic transmission. We also find that synaptic transmission requires the Ncc69 regulatory kinases WNK and Fray in glia. The ERG phenotype is associated with a defect in the recycling of the histamine neurotransmitter. Ncc69 mutants exhibit higher levels of the transport metabolite carcinine in lamina cartridges, with its accumulation most intense in the extracellular space. Our work reveals a novel role of glial NKCC transporters in synaptic transmission, possibly through regulating extracellular ionic conditions.

The RNA Helicase BELLE Is Involved in Circadian Rhythmicity and in Transposons Regulation in Drosophila melanogaster

Circadian clocks control and synchronize biological rhythms of several behavioral and physiological phenomena in most, if not all, organisms. Rhythm generation relies on molecular auto-regulatory oscillations of interlocked transcriptional-translational feedback loops. Rhythmic clock-gene expression is at the base of rhythmic protein accumulation, though post-transcriptional and post-translational mechanisms have evolved to adjust and consolidate the proper pace of the clock. In Drosophila, BELLE, a conserved DEAD-box RNA helicase playing important roles in reproductive capacity, is involved in the small RNA-mediated regulation associated to the piRNA pathway. Here, we report that BELLE is implicated in the circadian rhythmicity and in the regulation of endogenous transposable elements (TEs) in both nervous system and gonads. We suggest that BELLE acts as important element in the piRNA-mediated regulation of the TEs and raise the hypothesis that this specific regulation could represent another level of post-transcriptional control adopted by the clock to ensure the proper rhythmicity.

Drosophila melanogaster nonribosomal peptide synthetase Ebony encodes an atypical condensation domain

The protein Ebony from Drosophila melanogaster plays a central role in the regulation of histamine and dopamine in various tissues through condensation of these amines with β-alanine. Ebony is a rare example of a nonribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS) from a higher eukaryote and contains a C-terminal sequence that does not correspond to any previously characterized NRPS domain. We have structurally characterized this C-terminal domain and have discovered that it adopts the aryl-alkylamine-N-acetyl transferase (AANAT) fold, which is unprecedented in NRPS biology. Through analysis of ligand-bound structures, activity assays, and binding measurements, we have determined how this atypical condensation domain is able to provide selectivity for both the carrier protein-bound amino acid and the amine substrates, a situation that remains unclear for standard condensation domains identified to date from NRPS assembly lines. These results demonstrate that the C terminus of Ebony encodes a eukaryotic example of an alternative type of NRPS condensation domain; they also illustrate how the catalytic components of such assembly lines are significantly more diverse than a minimal set of conserved functional domains.

Phenotypic Convergence: Distinct Transcription Factors Regulate Common Terminal Features

Transcription factors regulate the molecular, morphological, and physiological characteristics of neurons and generate their impressive cell-type diversity. To gain insight into the general principles that govern how transcription factors regulate cell-type diversity, we used large-scale single-cell RNA sequencing to characterize the extensive cellular diversity in the Drosophila optic lobes. We sequenced 55,000 single cells and assigned them to 52 clusters. We validated and annotated many clusters using RNA sequencing of FACS-sorted single-cell types and cluster-specific genes. To identify transcription factors responsible for inducing specific terminal differentiation features, we generated a "random forest" model, and we showed that the transcription factors Apterous and Traffic-jam are required in many but not all cholinergic and glutamatergic neurons, respectively. In fact, the same terminal characters often can be regulated by different transcription factors in different cell types, arguing for extensive phenotypic convergence. Our data provide a deep understanding of the developmental and functional specification of a complex brain structure.

Location and functions of Inebriated in the Drosophila eye

Histamine (HA) is a neurotransmitter in arthropod photoreceptors. It is recycled via conjugation to β-alanine to form β-alanylhistamine (carcinine). Conjugation occurs in epithelial glia that surround photoreceptor terminals in the first optic neuropil, and carcinine (CA) is then transported back to photoreceptors and cleaved to liberate HA and β-alanine. The gene Inebriated (Ine) encodes an Na⁺/Cl^--dependent SLC6 family transporter translated as two protein isoforms, long (P1) and short (P2). Photoreceptors specifically express Ine-P2 whereas Ine-P1 is expressed in non-neuronal cells. Both ine¹ and ine³ have significantly reduced head HA contents compared with wild type, and a smaller increase in head HA after drinking 1% CA. Similarly, uptake of 0.1% CA was reduced in ine¹ and ine³ mutant synaptosomes, but increased by 90% and 84% respectively for fractions incubated in 0.05% β-Ala, compared with wild type. Screening potential substrates in Ine expressing Xenopus oocytes revealed very little response to carcinine and β-Ala but increased conductance with glycine. Both ine¹ and ine³ mutant responses in light-dark phototaxis did not differ from wild-type. Collectively our results suggest that Inebriated functions in an adjunct role as a transporter to the previously reported carcinine transporter CarT.

The β-alanine transporter BalaT is required for visual neurotransmission in Drosophila

The recycling of neurotransmitters is essential for sustained synaptic transmission. In Drosophila, histamine recycling is required for visual synaptic transmission. Synaptic histamine is rapidly taken up by laminar glia, and is converted to carcinine. After delivered back to photoreceptors, carcinine is hydrolyzed to release histamine and β-alanine. This histamine is repackaged into synaptic vesicles, but it is unclear how the β-alanine is returned to the laminar glial cells. Here, we identified a new β-alanine transporter, which we named BalaT (Beta-alanine Transporter). Null balat mutants exhibited lower levels of β-alanine, as well as less β-alanine accumulation in the retina. Moreover, BalaT is expressed and required in retinal pigment cells for maintaining visual synaptic transmission and phototaxis behavior. These results provide the first genetic evidence that retinal pigment cells play a critical role in visual neurotransmission, and suggest that a BalaT-dependent β-alanine trafficking pathway is required for histamine homeostasis and visual neurotransmission.

DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.29146.001

Neurons transmit information around the body in the form of electrical signals, but these signals cannot cross the gaps between neurons. To send a message to its neighbor, a neuron releases a molecule known as a neurotransmitter into the gap between the cells. The neurotransmitter binds to proteins on the recipient neuron and triggers new electrical signals inside that cell. When the message has been received, the neurotransmitter molecules are returned to the first neuron so that they can be reused.

This recycling is particularly important in the visual system, where neurons communicate via rapid-fire signaling. In fruit flies, for example, light-sensitive neurons in the eye known as photoreceptors release a neurotransmitter called histamine when they detect light. Supporting cells called laminar glia take up any leftover histamine and combine it with another molecule known as β-alanine to form a larger molecule. The photoreceptors absorb this larger molecule and break it back down into histamine and β-alanine. However, it is not clear how the β-alanine returns to the glia to allow this cycle to continue.

Many molecules rely on so-called “transporter” proteins to help them move into or out of cells. To identify transporters that might help to move β-alanine, Han, Xiong et al. prepared a list of fruit fly genes that encode transporter proteins found inside the insect’s head. Testing the resulting proteins in a cultured cell system revealed that one of them was able to transport β-alanine. This protein, named BalaT, is found in another type of support cell called retinal pigment cells. Mutant flies that cannot produce BalaT are blind because their photoreceptors have problems in transmitting information to other neurons.

Han, Xiong et al. propose that BalaT transports β-alanine from photoreceptors to retinal pigment cells, which then pass β-alanine on to the laminar glia. Follow-up studies are required to find out exactly how the laminar glia take up histamine.

DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.29146.002

Drosophila Vision Depends on Carcinine Uptake by an Organic Cation Transporter

Recycling of neurotransmitters is essential for sustained neuronal signaling, yet recycling pathways for various transmitters, including histamine, remain poorly understood. In the first visual ganglion (lamina) of Drosophila, photoreceptor-released histamine is taken up into perisynaptic glia, converted to carcinine, and delivered back to the photoreceptor for histamine regeneration. Here, we identify an organic cation transporter, CarT (carcinine transporter), that transports carcinine into photoreceptors during histamine recycling. CarT mediated in vitro uptake of carcinine. Deletion of the CarT gene caused an accumulation of carcinine in laminar glia accompanied by a reduction in histamine, resulting in abolished photoreceptor signal transmission and blindness in behavioral assays. These defects were rescued by expression of CarT cDNA in photoreceptors, and they were reproduced by photoreceptor-specific CarT knockdown. Our findings suggest a common role for the conserved family of CarT-like transporters in maintaining histamine homeostasis in both mammalian and fly brains.

Histamine Recycling Is Mediated by CarT, a Carcinine Transporter in Drosophila Photoreceptors

Histamine is an important chemical messenger that regulates multiple physiological processes in both vertebrate and invertebrate animals. Even so, how glial cells and neurons recycle histamine remains to be elucidated. Drosophila photoreceptor neurons use histamine as a neurotransmitter, and the released histamine is recycled through neighboring glia, where it is conjugated to β-alanine to form carcinine. However, how carcinine is then returned to the photoreceptor remains unclear. In an mRNA-seq screen for photoreceptor cell-enriched transporters, we identified CG9317, an SLC22 transporter family protein, and named it CarT (Carcinine Transporter). S2 cells that express CarT are able to take up carcinine in vitro. In the compound eye, CarT is exclusively localized to photoreceptor terminals. Null mutations of cart alter the content of histamine and its metabolites. Moreover, null cart mutants are defective in photoreceptor synaptic transmission and lack phototaxis. These findings reveal that CarT is required for histamine recycling at histaminergic photoreceptors and provide evidence for a CarT-dependent neurotransmitter trafficking pathway between glial cells and photoreceptor terminals.

Neurotransmitter transporters that remove neurotransmitters and recycle them after their release have particular importance at visual synapses, which must signal at high frequencies and therefore required rapid clearance of neurotransmitters from the synaptic cleft. In this study, we identified a SLC22 family transporter, CarT, in the visual system of Drosophila, which is exclusively located to photoreceptor terminals in the lamina neuropil and is responsible for taking up carcinine, an inactive histamine metabolite, from surrounding glia. Loss of CarT disrupts the regeneration of histamine and blocks neurotransmission at photoreceptor cell synapses. Our work provides direct evidence for a local histamine recycling pathway between glial cells and photoreceptor terminals, and shows that a CarT-dependent histamine/carcinine shuttle pathway is critical for maintaining the normal histamine content of neurons.

Integrative Proteomics and Metabolomics Analysis of Insect Larva Brain: Novel Insights into the Molecular Mechanism of Insect Wandering Behavior

Before metamorphosis, most holometabolous insects, such as the silkworm studied here, undergo a special phase called the wandering stage. Insects in this stage often display enhanced locomotor activity (ELA). ELA is vital because it ensures that the insect finds a safe and suitable place to live through the pupal stage. The physiological mechanisms of wandering behavior are still unclear. Here, we integrated proteomics and metabolomics approaches to analyze the brain of the lepidopteran insect, silkworm, at the feeding and wandering stages. Using LC-MS/MS and GC-MS, in all we identified 3004 proteins and 37 metabolites at these two stages. Among them, 465 proteins and 22 metabolites were changed. Neural signal transduction proteins and metabolites, such as neurofilament, dopaminergic synapse related proteins, and glutamic acid, were significantly altered, which suggested that active neural conduction occurred in the brain at the wandering stage. We also found decreased dopamine degradation at the wandering stage. The proposed changes in active neural conduction and increased dopamine concentration might induce ELA. In addition, proteins involved in the ubiquitin proteasome system and lysosome pathway were upregulated, revealing that the brain experiences morphological remodeling during metamorphosis. These findings yielded novel insights into the molecular mechanism underlying insect wandering behavior.

The carcinine transporter CarT is required in Drosophila photoreceptor neurons to sustain histamine recycling

Synaptic transmission from Drosophila photoreceptors to lamina neurons requires recycling of histamine neurotransmitter. Synaptic histamine is cleared by uptake into glia and conversion into carcinine, which functions as transport metabolite. How carcinine is transported from glia to photoreceptor neurons remains unclear. In a targeted RNAi screen for genes involved in this pathway, we identified carT, which encodes a member of the SLC22A transporter family. CarT expression in photoreceptors is necessary and sufficient for fly vision and behavior. Carcinine accumulates in the lamina of carT flies. Wild-type levels are restored by photoreceptor-specific expression of CarT, and endogenous tagging suggests CarT localizes to synaptic endings. Heterologous expression of CarT in S2 cells is sufficient for carcinine uptake, demonstrating the ability of CarT to utilize carcinine as a transport substrate. Together, our results demonstrate that CarT transports the histamine metabolite carcinine into photoreceptor neurons, thus contributing an essential step to the histamine–carcinine cycle.

DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.10972.001

Photoreceptors are light-sensitive neurons in the eyes of the fruit fly Drosophila that form connections with other neurons in the fly’s brain. At these connections, which are called synapses, the photoreceptors continuously release a chemical called histamine.

Photoreceptors will release more or less histamine depending on changes in light intensity, but always tend to release more histamine than they can produce themselves from scratch. This means that the visual system in Drosophila relies on a pathway that recycles histamine. That is to say, glial cells (which support the activity of the neurons) remove the chemical from synapses and return it to the photoreceptor neurons in a slightly modified form called “carcinine”. The photoreceptors then quickly convert the chemical back into histamine, ready to be released.

Stenesen et al. set out to identify the proteins that support this recycling pathway, and started by screening around 130 genes that encode transporter proteins for potential roles in histamine recycling. This screen identified a gene encoding a protein that was named CarT. This protein transports carcinine, the modified version of the histamine neurotransmitter.

Stenesen et al. show that the photoreceptor neurons make the CarT protein and need this protein to take up the carcinine released by the supporting glial cells. Without CarT, photoreceptor neurons cannot transmit visual information, and so mutant flies in which the gene for CarT is deleted are blind. Follow-up studies related to this work could involve identifying the transporters that move histamine and carcinine in and out of the glia cells, and exploring what other neurons and behaviors in fruit flies rely on CarT’s activity.

DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.10972.002

Lack of Dietary Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids Causes Synapse Dysfunction in the Drosophila Visual System

Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) are essential nutrients for animals and necessary for the normal functioning of the nervous system. A lack of PUFAs can result from the consumption of a deficient diet or genetic factors, which impact PUFA uptake and metabolism. Both can cause synaptic dysfunction, which is associated with numerous disorders. However, there is a knowledge gap linking these neuronal dysfunctions and their underlying molecular mechanisms. Because of its genetic manipulability and its easy, fast, and cheap breeding, Drosophila melanogaster has emerged as an excellent model organism for genetic screens, helping to identify the genetic bases of such events. As a first step towards the understanding of PUFA implications in Drosophila synaptic physiology we designed a breeding medium containing only very low amounts of PUFAs. We then used the fly’s visual system, a well-established model for studying signal transmission and neurological disorders, to measure the effects of a PUFA deficiency on synaptic function. Using both visual performance and eye electrophysiology, we found that PUFA deficiency strongly affected synaptic transmission in the fly’s visual system. These defects were rescued by diets containing omega-3 or omega-6 PUFAs alone or in combination. In summary, manipulating PUFA contents in the fly’s diet was powerful to investigate the role of these nutrients on the fly´s visual synaptic function. This study aims at showing how the first visual synapse of Drosophila can serve as a simple model to study the effects of PUFAs on synapse function. A similar approach could be further used to screen for genetic factors underlying the molecular mechanisms of synaptic dysfunctions associated with altered PUFA levels.

Glia in Drosophila behavior

Glial cells constitute about 10 % of the Drosophila nervous system. The development of genetic and molecular tools has helped greatly in defining different types of glia. Furthermore, considerable progress has been made in unraveling the mechanisms that control the development and differentiation of Drosophila glia. By contrast, the role of glia in adult Drosophila behavior is not well understood. We here summarize recent work describing the role of glia in normal behavior and in Drosophila models for neurological and behavioral disorders.

Drosophila Ebony: a novel type of nonribosomal peptide synthetase related enzyme with unusually fast peptide bond formation kinetics

Drosophila Ebony is a β-alanyl biogenic amine synthetase with proven function in cuticle and in glia of the nervous system. It is closely related to nonribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPSs), which typically consist of at least an adenylation, a peptidyl carrier protein and a peptide bond forming condensation domain. Besides its role in cuticle formation, Ebony is in most glia of the brain thought to convert biogenic amines to β-alanyl conjugates. If the metabolization of the neurotransmitter histamine to β-alanyl histamine requires a fast reaction in visual signal transduction, Ebony must be able to fulfill this requirement. Since NRPSs are in general slowly acting multi-modular protein machineries, the enigma of how Ebony quickly facilitates this inactivation remains a key question for understanding its role in vision. To quantitatively analyze the reaction kinetics, we used phosphopantetheinylated holo-Ebony prepared from Baculovirus infected Sf9 cells. Kinetic parameters for the loading reaction, e.g. the formation of β-alanyl-Ebony thioester, complied with those of slow NRPSs. In contrast, single-turnover analysis of the last reaction step, peptide bond formation between pre-activated β-alanyl Ebony thioester and histamine, revealed a very rapid conjugation reaction. This biphasic nature of activity identifies Ebony as a novel type of NRPS related molecule that combines a slow amino acid activation phase with a very fast product formation step.

Drosophila melanogaster as a genetic model system to study neurotransmitter transporters

The model genetic organism Drosophila melanogaster, commonly known as the fruit fly, uses many of the same neurotransmitters as mammals and very similar mechanisms of neurotransmitter storage, release and recycling. This system offers a variety of powerful molecular-genetic methods for the study of transporters, many of which would be difficult in mammalian models. We review here progress made using Drosophila to understand the function and regulation of neurotransmitter transporters and discuss future directions for its use.

Pigmentation and behavior: potential association through pleiotropic genes in Drosophila

The molecular basis of pigmentation variation within and among Drosophila species is largely attributed to genes in melanin biosynthesis pathway, which involves dopamine metabolism. Most of the genetic changes underlying pigmentation variations reported to date are changes at the expression levels of the structural genes in the pathway. Within D. melanogaster, changes in cis-regulatory regions of a gene, ebony, are responsible for the naturally occurring variation of the body pigmentation intensity. This gene is also known to be expressed in glia, and many visual and behavioral abnormalities of its mutants have been reported. This implies that the gene has pleiotropic functions in the nervous systems. In this review, current knowledge on pigmentation variation and melanin biosynthesis pathway are summarized, with some focus on pleiotropic features of ebony and other genes in the pathway. A potential association between pigmentation and behavior through such pleiotropic genes is discussed in light of cis-regulatory structure and pleiotropic mutations.

Long-distance mechanism of neurotransmitter recycling mediated by glial network facilitates visual function in Drosophila

Neurons rely on glia to recycle neurotransmitters such as glutamate and histamine for sustained signaling. Both mammalian and insect glia form intercellular gap-junction networks, but their functional significance underlying neurotransmitter recycling is unknown. Using the Drosophila visual system as a genetic model, here we show that a multicellular glial network transports neurotransmitter metabolites between perisynaptic glia and neuronal cell bodies to mediate long-distance recycling of neurotransmitter. In the first visual neuropil (lamina), which contains a multilayer glial network, photoreceptor axons release histamine to hyperpolarize secondary sensory neurons. Subsequently, the released histamine is taken up by perisynaptic epithelial glia and converted into inactive carcinine through conjugation with β-alanine for transport. In contrast to a previous assumption that epithelial glia deliver carcinine directly back to photoreceptor axons for histamine regeneration within the lamina, we detected both carcinine and β-alanine in the fly retina, where they are found in photoreceptor cell bodies and surrounding pigment glial cells. Downregulating Inx2 gap junctions within the laminar glial network causes β-alanine accumulation in retinal pigment cells and impairs carcinine synthesis, leading to reduced histamine levels and photoreceptor synaptic vesicles. Consequently, visual transmission is impaired and the fly is less responsive in a visual alert analysis compared with wild type. Our results suggest that a gap junction-dependent laminar and retinal glial network transports histamine metabolites between perisynaptic glia and photoreceptor cell bodies to mediate a novel, long-distance mechanism of neurotransmitter recycling, highlighting the importance of glial networks in the regulation of neuronal functions.

Activity and coexpression of Drosophila black with ebony in fly optic lobes reveals putative cooperative tasks in vision that evade electroretinographic detection

Drosophila mutants black and ebony show pigmentation defects in the adult cuticle, which disclose their cooperative activity in β-alanyl-dopamine formation. In visual signal transduction, Ebony conjugates β-alanine to histamine, forming β-alanyl-histamine or carcinine. Mutation of ebony disrupts signal transduction and reveals an electroretinogram (ERG) phenotype. In contrast to the corresponding cuticle phenotype of black and ebony, there is no ERG phenotype observed when black expression is disrupted. This discrepancy calls into question the longstanding assumption of Black and Ebony interaction. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of Black and Ebony in fly optic lobes. We excluded a presynaptic histamine uptake pathway and confirmed histamine recycling via carcinine formation in glia. β-Alanine supply for this pathway is independent of enzymatic synthesis by Black and β-alanine synthase Pyd3. Two versions of Black are expressed in vivo. Black is a specific aspartate decarboxylase with no activity on glutamate. RNA in situ hybridization and anti-Black antisera localized Black expression in the head. Immunolabeling revealed expression in lamina glia, in large medulla glia, in glia of the ocellar ganglion, and in astrocyte-like glia below the ocellar ganglion. In these glia types, Black expression is strictly accompanied by Ebony expression. Activity, localization, and strict coexpression with Ebony strongly indicate a specific mode of functional interaction that, however, evades ERG detection.

The ontogeny of color: developmental origins of divergent pigmentation in Drosophila americana and D. novamexicana

Pigmentation is a model trait for evolutionary and developmental analysis that is particularly amenable to molecular investigation in the genus Drosophila. To better understand how this phenotype evolves, we examined divergent pigmentation and gene expression over developmental time in the dark-bodied D. americana and its light-bodied sister species D. novamexicana. Prior genetic analysis implicated two enzyme-encoding genes, tan and ebony, in pigmentation divergence between these species, but questions remain about the underlying molecular mechanisms. Here, we describe stages of pupal development in both species and use this staging to determine when pigmentation develops and diverges between D. americana and D. novamexicana. For the developmental stages encompassing pigment divergence, we compare mRNA expression of tan and ebony over time and between species. Finally, we use allele-specific expression assays to determine whether interspecific differences in mRNA abundance have a cis-regulatory basis and find evidence of cis-regulatory divergence for both tan and ebony. cis-regulatory divergence affecting tan had a small effect on mRNA abundance and was limited to a few developmental stages, yet previous data suggests that this divergence is likely to be biologically meaningful. Our study suggests that small and developmentally transient expression changes may contribute to phenotypic diversification more often than commonly appreciated. Recognizing the potential phenotypic impact of such changes is important for a scientific community increasingly focused on dissecting quantitative variation, but detecting these types of changes will be a major challenge to elucidating the molecular basis of complex traits.

Visual neurotransmission in Drosophila requires expression of Fic in glial capitate projections

Fic domains can catalyze the addition of adenosine monophosphate to target proteins. To date, the function of Fic domain proteins in eukaryotic physiology remains unknown. We generated genetic models of the single Drosophila Fic domain–containing protein, Fic. Flies lacking Fic were viable and fertile, but blind. Photoreceptor cells depolarized normally following light stimulation, but failed to activate postsynaptic neurons, as indicated by the loss of ON transients in electroretinograms, consistent with a neurotransmission defect. Functional rescue of neurotransmission required expression of enzymatically active Fic on capitate projections of glia cells, but not neurons, supporting a role in the recycling of the visual neurotransmitter histamine. Histamine levels were reduced in the lamina of Fic null flies, and dietary histamine partially restored ON transients. These findings establish a previously unknown regulatory mechanism in visual neurotransmission and provide, to the best of our knowledge, the first evidence for a role of glial capitate projections in neurotransmitter recycling.

The metabolism of histamine in the Drosophila optic lobe involves an ommatidial pathway: β-alanine recycles through the retina

Flies recycle the photoreceptor neurotransmitter histamine by conjugating it to β-alanine to form β-alanyl-histamine (carcinine). The conjugation is regulated by Ebony, while Tan hydrolyses carcinine, releasing histamine and β-alanine. In Drosophila, β-alanine synthesis occurs either from uracil or from the decarboxylation of aspartate but detailed roles for the enzymes responsible remain unclear. Immunohistochemically detected β-alanine is present throughout the fly's entire brain, and is enhanced in the retina especially in the pseudocone, pigment and photoreceptor cells of the ommatidia. HPLC determinations reveal 10.7 ng of β-alanine in the wild-type head, roughly five times more than histamine. When wild-type flies drink uracil their head β-alanine increases more than after drinking l-aspartic acid, indicating the effectiveness of the uracil pathway. Mutants of black, which lack aspartate decarboxylase, cannot synthesize β-alanine from l-aspartate but can still synthesize it efficiently from uracil. Our findings demonstrate a novel function for pigment cells, which not only screen ommatidia from stray light but also store and transport β-alanine and carcinine. This role is consistent with a β-alanine-dependent histamine recycling pathway occurring not only in the photoreceptor terminals in the lamina neuropile, where carcinine occurs in marginal glia, but vertically via a long pathway that involves the retina. The lamina's marginal glia are also a hub involved in the storage and/or disposal of carcinine and β-alanine.

Glial cell modulation of circadian rhythms

Studies of Drosophila and mammals have documented circadian changes in the morphology and biochemistry of glial cells. In addition, it is known that astrocytes of flies and mammals contain evolutionarily conserved circadian molecular oscillators that are similar to neuronal oscillators. In several sections of this review, I summarize the morphological and biochemical rhythms of glia that may contribute to circadian control. I also discuss the evidence suggesting that glia-neuron interactions may be critical for circadian timing in both flies and mammals. Throughout the review, I attempt to compare and contrast findings from these invertebrate and vertebrate models so as to provide a synthesis of current knowledge and indicate potential research avenues that may be useful for better understanding the roles of glial cells in the circadian system.

Alternative tasks of Drosophila tan in neurotransmitter recycling versus cuticle sclerotization disclosed by kinetic properties

Upon a stimulus of light, histamine is released from Drosophila photoreceptor axonal endings. It is taken up into glia where Ebony converts it into beta-alanyl-histamine (carcinine). Carcinine moves into photoreceptor cells and is there cleaved into beta-alanine and histamine by Tan activity. Tan thus provides a key function in the recycling pathway of the neurotransmitter histamine. It is also involved in the process of cuticle formation. There, it cleaves beta-alanyl-dopamine, a major component in cuticle sclerotization. Active Tan enzyme is generated by a self-processing proteolytic cleavage from a pre-protein at a conserved Gly-Cys sequence motif. We confirmed the dependence on the Gly-Cys motif by in vitro mutagenesis. Processing time delays the rise to full Tan activity up to 3 h behind its putative circadian RNA expression in head. To investigate its pleiotropic functions, we have expressed Tan as a His(6) fusion protein in Escherichia coli and have purified it to homogeneity. We found wild type and mutant His(6)-Tan protein co-migrating in size exclusion chromatography with a molecular weight compatible with homodimer formation. We conclude that dimer formation is preceding pre-protein processing. Drosophila tan(1) null mutant analysis revealed that amino acid Arg(217) is absolutely required for processing. Substitution of Met(256) in tan(5), on the contrary, does not affect processing extensively but renders it prone to degradation. This also leads to a strong tan phenotype although His(6)-Tan(5) retains activity. Kinetic parameters of Tan reveal characteristic differences in K(m) and k(cat) values of carcinine and beta-alanyl-dopamine cleavage, which conclusively illustrate the divergent tasks met by Tan.

Preparation of developing and adult Drosophila brains and retinae for live imaging

The Drosophila brain and visual system are widely utilized model systems to study neuronal development, function and degeneration. Here we show three preparations of the brain and visual system that cover the range from the developing eye disc-brain complex in the developing pupae to individual eye and brain dissection from adult flies. All protocols are optimized for the live culture of the preparations. However, we also present the conditions for fixed tissue immunohistochemistry where applicable. Finally, we show live imaging conditions for these preparations using conventional and resonant 4D confocal live imaging in a perfusion chamber. Together, these protocols provide a basis for live imaging on different time scales ranging from functional intracellular assays on the scale of minutes to developmental or degenerative processes on the scale of many hours.

The functional organisation of glia in the adult brain of Drosophila and other insects

This review annotates and categorises the glia of adult Drosophila and other model insects and analyses the developmental origins of these in the Drosophila optic lobe. The functions of glia in the adult vary depending upon their sub-type and location in the brain. The task of annotating glia is essentially complete only for the glia of the fly's lamina, which comprise: two types of surface glia-the pseudocartridge and fenestrated glia; two types of cortex glia-the distal and proximal satellite glia; and two types of neuropile glia-the epithelial and marginal glia. We advocate that the term subretinal glia, as used to refer to both pseudocartridge and fenestrated glia, be abandoned. Other neuropiles contain similar glial subtypes, but other than the antennal lobes these have not been described in detail. Surface glia form the blood brain barrier, regulating the flow of substances into and out of the nervous system, both for the brain as a whole and the optic neuropiles in particular. Cortex glia provide a second level of barrier, wrapping axon fascicles and isolating neuronal cell bodies both from neighbouring brain regions and from their underlying neuropiles. Neuropile glia can be generated in the adult and a subtype, ensheathing glia, are responsible for cleaning up cellular debris during Wallerian degeneration. Both the neuropile ensheathing and astrocyte-like glia may be involved in clearing neurotransmitters from the extracellular space, thus modifying the levels of histamine, glutamate and possibly dopamine at the synapse to ultimately affect behaviour.

The enzyme NBAD-synthase plays diverse roles during the life cycle of Drosophila melanogaster

This report shows the biochemical characterization and life cycle-dependent expression of Drosophila melanogaster N-beta-alanyldopamine synthase (NBAD-synthase or Ebony protein). This enzyme not only catalyzes the synthesis of NBAD, the main sclerotization and pigmentation precursor of insect brown cuticles, but also plays a role in brain neurotransmitter metabolism. In addition to the epidermis expression our immunodetection experiments show the novel localization of NBAD-synthase in different regions of the adult brain, in the foregut of pharate adult and, surprisingly, in the epidermis of the trachea during embryogenesis. These results demonstrate that NBAD-synthase is a versatile enzyme involved in different, previously unknown, time- and tissue-dependent processes.

Glial cell development and function in the Drosophila visual system

In the developing nervous system, building a functional neuronal network relies on coordinating the formation, specification and survival to diverse neuronal and glial cell subtypes. The establishment of neuronal connections further depends on sequential neuron-neuron and neuron-glia interactions that regulate cell-migration patterns and axon guidance. The visual system of Drosophila has a highly regular, retinotopic organization into reiterated interconnected synaptic circuits. It is therefore an excellent invertebrate model to investigate basic cellular strategies and molecular determinants regulating the different developmental processes that lead to network formation. Studies in the visual system have provided important insights into the mechanisms by which photoreceptor axons connect with their synaptic partners within the optic lobe. In this review, we highlight that this system is also well suited for uncovering general principles that underlie glial cell biology. We describe the glial cell subtypes in the visual system and discuss recent findings about their development and migration. Finally, we outline the pivotal roles of glial cells in mediating neural circuit assembly, boundary formation, neural proliferation and survival, as well as synaptic function.

Cyclical expression of Na+/K+-ATPase in the visual system of Drosophila melanogaster

In the first (lamina) and second (medulla) optic neuropils of Drosophila melanogaster, sodium pump subunit expression changes during the day and night, controlled by a circadian clock. We examined alpha-subunit expression from the intensity of immunolabeling. For the beta-subunit, encoded by Nervana 2 (Nrv2), we used Nrv2-GAL4 to drive expression of GFP, and measured the resultant fluorescence in whole heads and specific optic lobe cells. All optic neuropils express the alpha-subunit, highest at the beginning of night in both lamina and medulla in day/night condition and the oscillation was maintained in constant darkness. This rhythm was lacking in the clock arrhythmic per(0) mutant. GFP driven by Nrv2 was mostly detected in glial cells, mainly in the medulla. There, GFP expression occurs in medulla neuropil glia (MNGl), which express the clock gene per, and which closely contact the terminals of clock neurons immunoreactive to pigment dispersing factor. GFP fluorescence exhibited circadian oscillation in whole heads from Nrv2-GAL4+UAS-S65T-GFP flies, although significant GFP oscillations were lacking in MNGl, as they were for both subunit mRNAs in whole-head homogenates. In the dissected brain tissues, however, the mRNA of the alpha-subunit showed a robust daily rhythm in concentration changes while changes in the beta-subunit mRNA were weaker and not statistically significant. Thus in the brain, the genes for the sodium pump subunits, at least the one encoding the alpha-subunit, seem to be clock-controlled and the abundance of their corresponding proteins mirrors daily changes in mRNA, showing cyclical accumulation in cells.

Photoreceptor neurons find new synaptic targets when misdirected by overexpressing runt in Drosophila

As a neuron differentiates, it adopts a suite of features specific to its particular type. Fly photoreceptors are of two types: R1-R6, which innervate the first optic neuropile, the lamina; and R7-R8, which innervate the second, the medulla. Photoreceptors R1-R6 normally have large light-absorbing rhabdomeres, express Rhodopsin1, and have synaptic terminals that innervate the lamina. In Drosophila melanogaster, we used the yeast GAL4/UAS system to drive exogenous expression of the transcription factor Runt in subsets of photoreceptors, resulting in aberrant axonal pathfinding and, ultimately, incorrect targeting of R1-R6 synaptic terminals to the medulla, normally occupied by terminals from R7 and R8. Even when subsets of their normal R1-R6 photoreceptor inputs penetrate the lamina, to terminate in the medulla, normal target cells within the lamina persist and maintain expression of cell-specific markers. Some R1-R6 photoreceptors form reciprocal synaptic inputs with their normal lamina targets, whereas supernumerary terminals targeted to the medulla also form synapses. At both sites, tetrad synapses form, with four postsynaptic elements at each release site, the usual number in the lamina. In addition, the terminals at both sites are invaginated by profiles of glia, at organelles called capitate projections, which in the lamina are photoreceptor sites of vesicle endocytosis. The size and shape of the capitate projection heads are identical at both lamina and medulla sites, although those in the medulla are ectopic and receive invaginations from foreign glia. This uniformity indicates the cell-autonomous determination of the architecture of its synaptic organelles by the presynaptic photoreceptor terminal.

More than just glue: the diverse roles of cell adhesion molecules in the Drosophila nervous system

Cell adhesion is the fundamental driving force that establishes complex cellular architectures, with the nervous system offering a striking, sophisticated case study. Developing neurons adhere to neighboring neurons, their synaptic partners, and to glial cells. These adhesive interactions are required in a diverse array of contexts, including cell migration, axon guidance and targeting, as well as synapse formation and physiology. Forward and reverse genetic screens in the fruit fly Drosophila have uncovered several adhesion molecules that are required for neural development, and detailed cell biological analyses are beginning to unravel how these factors shape nervous system connectivity. Here we review our current understanding of the most prominent of these adhesion factors and their modes of action.

A glial variant of the vesicular monoamine transporter is required to store histamine in the Drosophila visual system

Unlike other monoamine neurotransmitters, the mechanism by which the brain's histamine content is regulated remains unclear. In mammals, vesicular monoamine transporters (VMATs) are expressed exclusively in neurons and mediate the storage of histamine and other monoamines. We have studied the visual system of Drosophila melanogaster in which histamine is the primary neurotransmitter released from photoreceptor cells. We report here that a novel mRNA splice variant of Drosophila VMAT (DVMAT-B) is expressed not in neurons but rather in a small subset of glia in the lamina of the fly's optic lobe. Histamine contents are reduced by mutation of dVMAT, but can be partially restored by specifically expressing DVMAT-B in glia. Our results suggest a novel role for a monoamine transporter in glia that may be relevant to histamine homeostasis in other systems.

Drosophila ABC transporter mutants white, brown and scarlet have altered contents and distribution of biogenic amines in the brain

Monoamines such as dopamine, histamine and serotonin (5-HT) are widely distributed throughout the brain of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, where many of their actions have been investigated. For example, histamine is released from photoreceptor synapses in the lamina neuropile of the visual system. Mutations of the genes white, an important eye pigmentation marker in fly genetics that encodes an ABC transporter, and its binding partner brown, cause neural phenotypes not readily reconciled solely with actions in eye pigmentation. We find that flies mutant for these genes, and another binding partner, scarlet, have about half the wild-type amount of histamine in the head, as well as reduced 5-HT and dopamine. These differences parallel reductions in immunoreactivity to the corresponding biogenic amines. They also correlate with the amine content of fractions after differential centrifugation of head homogenates. Thus, most of the amine is found in the vesicle-rich fraction of wild-type head homogenates, whereas it is found in the supernatant fractions from white, brown and scarlet flies. White co-expresses in lamina epithelial glia with Ebony, which conjugates histamine to β-alanine. Histamine is then released when the conjugate is hydrolyzed in photoreceptors, by Tan. Mutant white ameliorates the effects of tan on head histamine whereas it exacerbates the effects of ebony. Our results are consistent with the proposal that histamine uptake by the epithelial glia may be white dependent. Behavioral abnormalities in white, brown and scarlet mutants could arise because aminergic neurons in the Drosophila brain have reduced amine for release.

Glial cell regulation of neurotransmission and behavior in Drosophila

Mounting evidence demonstrates that glial cells might have important roles in regulating the physiology and behavior of adult animals. We summarize some of this evidence here, with an emphasis on the roles of glia of the differentiated nervous system in controlling neuronal excitability, behavior and plasticity. In the review we highlight studies in Drosophila and discuss results from the analysis of mammalian astrocytes that demonstrate roles for glia in the adult nervous system.

Astrocytic control of synaptic transmission and plasticity: a target for drugs of abuse?

It is well recognized that drugs of abuse lead to plastic changes in synapses and that these long-term modifications have the potential to underlie adaptive changes of the brain that lead to substance abuse. However the variety of molecular mechanisms involved in these responses are not completely defined. We are just beginning to understand some of the roles of glial cells that are associated with synapses. At many synapses an astrocyte process is associated with pre- and postsynaptic neuron processes leading to the naming of this synaptic structure as the Tripartite Synapse. Therefore, these glial cells are positioned so that they influence synaptic transmission and thus could potentially regulate the actions of some drugs of abuse. In mammalian systems there are correlations between long-term structural changes in astrocytes and responses to drugs of abuse. However, whether such changes in glia impact brain function and subsequent behaviors associated with addiction is poorly understood. Studies using Drosophila show important roles of fly glia in mediating responses to cocaine pointing to the potential for the involvement of mammalian glia in the brain's responses to this as well as other drugs. In agreement with this possibility three receptor systems known to be important in substance abuse, mGluR5, GABA(B) and CB-1 receptors, are all expressed by astrocytes and the activation of these glial receptors is now known to impact neuronal excitability and synaptic transmission. Given our new knowledge about the presence of reciprocal signaling between astrocytes and synapses we are now at a time when it becomes appropriate to determine how glial cells respond to drugs of abuse and whether they contribute to the changes in brain function underlying substance abuse.

The role of carcinine in signaling at the Drosophila photoreceptor synapse

The Drosophila melanogaster photoreceptor cell has long served as a model system for researchers focusing on how animal sensory neurons receive information from their surroundings and translate this information into chemical and electrical messages. Electroretinograph (ERG) analysis of Drosophila mutants has helped to elucidate some of the genes involved in the visual transduction pathway downstream of the photoreceptor cell, and it is now clear that photoreceptor cell signaling is dependent upon the proper release and recycling of the neurotransmitter histamine. While the neurotransmitter transporters responsible for clearing histamine, and its metabolite carcinine, from the synaptic cleft have remained unknown, a strong candidate for a transporter of either substrate is the uncharacterized inebriated protein. The inebriated gene (ine) encodes a putative neurotransmitter transporter that has been localized to photoreceptor cells in Drosophila and mutations in ine result in an abnormal ERG phenotype in Drosophila. Loss-of-function mutations in ebony, a gene required for the synthesis of carcinine in Drosophila, suppress components of the mutant ine ERG phenotype, while loss-of-function mutations in tan, a gene necessary for the hydrolysis of carcinine in Drosophila, have no effect on the ERG phenotype in ine mutants. We also show that by feeding wild-type flies carcinine, we can duplicate components of mutant ine ERGs. Finally, we demonstrate that treatment with H₃ receptor agonists or inverse agonists rescue several components of the mutant ine ERG phenotype. Here, we provide pharmacological and genetic epistatic evidence that ine encodes a carcinine neurotransmitter transporter. We also speculate that the oscillations observed in mutant ine ERG traces are the result of the aberrant activity of a putative H₃ receptor.

During signaling in the nervous system, individual nerve cells transfer information to one another by a complex process called synaptic transmission. This communication involves the release of a specific neurotransmitter into the synaptic cleft, which then triggers signaling in the downstream neuron by binding to and activating specific cell surface receptors. In order to terminate the neuronal signal, the neurotransmitter must be rapidly removed from the synaptic cleft. This is done by two mechanisms: the neurotransmitter can be degraded or modified, or the transmitter can be taken up by the presynaptic neuron and packaged into vesicles for reuse. In the compound eye of the fruitfly D. melanogaster, the photoreceptor cell responds to light and releases histamine into the synaptic cleft. This signal is terminated by the removal of histamine from the synapse and the enzymatic conversion of histamine to carcinine. We have shown that it is not sufficient just to modify the histamine neurotransmitter, but it is also important to remove carcinine from the photoreceptor synapse. The failure to adequately remove carcinine results in defects in the visual transduction process. Moreover, the work suggests that carcinine itself modulates vision by regulating histamine release into the synapse.

Neuron glial communication at synapses: insights from vertebrates and invertebrates

Glial cells are instrumental for many aspects of nervous-system function. Interestingly, complex neuron-glial interactions at synapses are commonly found in both invertebrates and vertebrates. Although these interactions are known to be important for synaptic physiology, the cellular processes and molecular mechanisms involved have not been fully uncovered. Identifying the common and unique features of neuron-glial interactions between invertebrates and vertebrates may provide valuable insights into the relationship of neuron-glial cross-talk to nervous-system function. This review highlights selected studies that have revealed structural and functional insights into neuron-glial interactions at synapses in invertebrate and vertebrate model systems.