Hybrid Neurons in a MicroRNA Mutant Are Putative Evolutionary Intermediates in Insect CO_2 Sensory Systems
Abstract
Carbon dioxide (CO_2) elicits different olfactory behaviors across species. In Drosophila, neurons that detect CO_2 are located in the antenna, form connections in a ventral glomerulus in the antennal lobe, and mediate avoidance. By contrast, in the mosquito these neurons are in the maxillary palps (MPs), connect to medial sites, and promote attraction. We found in Drosophila that loss of a microRNA, miR-279, leads to formation of CO_2 neurons in the MPs. miR-279 acts through down-regulation of the transcription factor Nerfin-1. The ectopic neurons are hybrid cells. They express CO_2 receptors and form connections characteristic of CO_2 neurons, while exhibiting wiring and receptor characteristics of MP olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs). We propose that this hybrid ORN reveals a cellular intermediate in the evolution of species-specific behaviors elicited by CO_2.
Additional Information
© 2008 American Association for the Advancement of Science. 20 August 2007; Accepted 17 January 2008. We thank L. Vosshall, B. Dickson, W. Odenwald, R. Klein, G. Tavosanis, J. Carlson, and D. Anderson for providing reagents and comments on experiments; W. Tom, A. Lorenze, and P. Alcala for technical assistance; A. Acker-Palmer, T. Suzuki, G. Tavosanis, R. Klein, and members of the laboratories for comments on the manuscript; A. Luke for helping with miR-279 deletions; and Y.-T. Chou for cloning the luciferase sensors. Supported by the Jane Coffin Childs Memorial Fund and a National Research Service Award (P.C.); EMBO and the Human Frontiers Science Program (I.G.K.); the Leukemia and Lymphoma Foundation, the Burroughs Wellcome Foundation, and the V-Foundation for Cancer Research (E.C.L.); and NIH grant DC006485 (S.L.Z.). G.S.B.S. is an HHMI Associate; S.L.Z. is an HHMI Investigator.Attached Files
Supplemental Material - Cayirlioglu.SOM.pdf
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Additional details
- Alternative title
- Hybrid neurons in a microRNA mutant are putative evolutionary intermediates in insect CO2 sensory systems
- Eprint ID
- 51951
- DOI
- 10.1126/science.1149483
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20141119-100500295
- Jane Coffin Child's Memorial Fund
- National Research Service Award
- EMBO (European Molecular Biology Organization)
- Human Frontier Science Program
- Leukemia and Lymphoma Foundation
- Burroughs Wellcome Foundation
- V-Foundation for Cancer Research
- DC006485
- NIH
- Created
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2014-11-19Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
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2021-11-10Created from EPrint's last_modified field