Cargando…

The number of neurons in Drosophila and mosquito brains

Various insect species serve as valuable model systems for investigating the cellular and molecular mechanisms by which a brain controls sophisticated behaviors. In particular, the nervous system of Drosophila melanogaster has been extensively studied, yet experiments aimed at determining the number...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Raji, Joshua I., Potter, Christopher J.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8121336/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33989293
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0250381
_version_ 1783692321132380160
author Raji, Joshua I.
Potter, Christopher J.
author_facet Raji, Joshua I.
Potter, Christopher J.
author_sort Raji, Joshua I.
collection PubMed
description Various insect species serve as valuable model systems for investigating the cellular and molecular mechanisms by which a brain controls sophisticated behaviors. In particular, the nervous system of Drosophila melanogaster has been extensively studied, yet experiments aimed at determining the number of neurons in the Drosophila brain are surprisingly lacking. Using isotropic fractionator coupled with immunohistochemistry, we counted the total number of neuronal and non-neuronal cells in the whole brain, central brain, and optic lobe of Drosophila melanogaster. For comparison, we also counted neuronal populations in three divergent mosquito species: Aedes aegypti, Anopheles coluzzii and Culex quinquefasciatus. The average number of neurons in a whole adult brain was determined to be 199,380 ±3,400 cells in D. melanogaster, 217,910 ±6,180 cells in Ae. aegypti, 223,020 ± 4,650 cells in An. coluzzii and 225,911±7,220 cells in C. quinquefasciatus. The mean neuronal cell count in the central brain vs. optic lobes for D. melanogaster (101,140 ±3,650 vs. 107,270 ± 2,720), Ae. aegypti (109,140 ± 3,550 vs. 112,000 ± 4,280), An. coluzzii (105,130 ± 3,670 vs. 107,140 ± 3,090), and C. quinquefasciatus (108,530 ±7,990 vs. 110,670 ± 3,950) was also estimated. Each insect brain was comprised of 89% ± 2% neurons out of its total cell population. Isotropic fractionation analyses did not identify obvious sexual dimorphism in the neuronal and non-neuronal cell population of these insects. Our study provides experimental evidence for the total number of neurons in Drosophila and mosquito brains.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-8121336
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2021
publisher Public Library of Science
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-81213362021-05-24 The number of neurons in Drosophila and mosquito brains Raji, Joshua I. Potter, Christopher J. PLoS One Research Article Various insect species serve as valuable model systems for investigating the cellular and molecular mechanisms by which a brain controls sophisticated behaviors. In particular, the nervous system of Drosophila melanogaster has been extensively studied, yet experiments aimed at determining the number of neurons in the Drosophila brain are surprisingly lacking. Using isotropic fractionator coupled with immunohistochemistry, we counted the total number of neuronal and non-neuronal cells in the whole brain, central brain, and optic lobe of Drosophila melanogaster. For comparison, we also counted neuronal populations in three divergent mosquito species: Aedes aegypti, Anopheles coluzzii and Culex quinquefasciatus. The average number of neurons in a whole adult brain was determined to be 199,380 ±3,400 cells in D. melanogaster, 217,910 ±6,180 cells in Ae. aegypti, 223,020 ± 4,650 cells in An. coluzzii and 225,911±7,220 cells in C. quinquefasciatus. The mean neuronal cell count in the central brain vs. optic lobes for D. melanogaster (101,140 ±3,650 vs. 107,270 ± 2,720), Ae. aegypti (109,140 ± 3,550 vs. 112,000 ± 4,280), An. coluzzii (105,130 ± 3,670 vs. 107,140 ± 3,090), and C. quinquefasciatus (108,530 ±7,990 vs. 110,670 ± 3,950) was also estimated. Each insect brain was comprised of 89% ± 2% neurons out of its total cell population. Isotropic fractionation analyses did not identify obvious sexual dimorphism in the neuronal and non-neuronal cell population of these insects. Our study provides experimental evidence for the total number of neurons in Drosophila and mosquito brains. Public Library of Science 2021-05-14 /pmc/articles/PMC8121336/ /pubmed/33989293 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0250381 Text en © 2021 Raji, Potter https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Raji, Joshua I.
Potter, Christopher J.
The number of neurons in Drosophila and mosquito brains
title The number of neurons in Drosophila and mosquito brains
title_full The number of neurons in Drosophila and mosquito brains
title_fullStr The number of neurons in Drosophila and mosquito brains
title_full_unstemmed The number of neurons in Drosophila and mosquito brains
title_short The number of neurons in Drosophila and mosquito brains
title_sort number of neurons in drosophila and mosquito brains
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8121336/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33989293
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0250381
work_keys_str_mv AT rajijoshuai thenumberofneuronsindrosophilaandmosquitobrains
AT potterchristopherj thenumberofneuronsindrosophilaandmosquitobrains
AT rajijoshuai numberofneuronsindrosophilaandmosquitobrains
AT potterchristopherj numberofneuronsindrosophilaandmosquitobrains