Chronobiology
Author: Christian Mauricio Carpio Romero | Email: ccarpio@leloir.org.ar
Christian Mauricio Carpio-Romero1°, Francisco J. Tassara1°,Gonzalo Grau2°, Maria Fernanda Ceriani1°
1° Laboratorio de genética del comportamiento – Fundación Instituto Leloir – Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Buenos Aires (CONICET)
2° Instituto Tecnológico de Buenos Aires
Living organisms have an internal clock that oscillates with a period of ~24 hours, regulating physiology differentially across the day. In Drosophila, this circadian clock comprises 240 neurons organized in clusters that receive inputs from the environment, process information and organize daily activity patterns. The interaction among these clusters through neuropeptides has extensively been studied; only recently communication through classical neurotransmitters has been uncovered. Two different connectivity databases of the Drosophila brain have just been published. They provide detailed spatial mapping of synaptic inputs and outputs for each neuron, including classification of the clear vesicles based on the loaded neurotransmitter. However, the cost of generating such datasets limits the number of available time-points, constraining the ability to analyse differential connectivity throughout the day. Conversely, single-cell transcriptome analysis of clock neurons contains temporal information on the expression of essential components of the machinery involved in neurotransmission. Taking advantage of the datasets, we mapped interactions within the clock network through the identification of neurotransmitters and receptor subunits that would support communication. This analysis, supported by ours based on a tracing tool that allows identification of postsynaptic partners, contribute to define the landscape of receptors that would mediate communication within the sLNvs.