Machine learning reveals the control mechanics of an insect wing hinge.

Insects constitute the most species-rich radiation of metazoa, a success that is due to the evolution of active flight. Unlike pterosaurs, birds and bats, the wings of insects did not evolve from legs1, but are novel structures that are attached to the body via a biomechanically complex hinge that transforms tiny, high-frequency oscillations of specialized power muscles into the sweeping back-and-forth motion of the wings2. The hinge consists of a system of tiny, hardened structures called sclerites that are interconnected to one another via flexible joints and regulated by the activity of specialized control muscles. Here we imaged the activity of these muscles in a fly using a genetically encoded calcium indicator, while simultaneously tracking the three-dimensional motion of the wings with high-speed cameras. Using machine learning, we created a convolutional neural network3 that accurately predicts wing motion from the activity of the steering muscles, and an encoder-decoder4 that predicts the role of the individual sclerites on wing motion. By replaying patterns of wing motion on a dynamically scaled robotic fly, we quantified the effects of steering muscle activity on aerodynamic forces. A physics-based simulation incorporating our hinge model generates flight manoeuvres that are remarkably similar to those of free-flying flies. This integrative, multi-disciplinary approach reveals the mechanical control logic of the insect wing hinge, arguably among the most sophisticated and evolutionarily important skeletal structures in the natural world.

Motor neurons generate pose-targeted movements via proprioceptive sculpting.

Motor neurons are the final common pathway1 through which the brain controls movement of the body, forming the basic elements from which all movement is composed. Yet how a single motor neuron contributes to control during natural movement remains unclear. Here we anatomically and functionally characterize the individual roles of the motor neurons that control head movement in the fly, Drosophila melanogaster. Counterintuitively, we find that activity in a single motor neuron rotates the head in different directions, depending on the starting posture of the head, such that the head converges towards a pose determined by the identity of the stimulated motor neuron. A feedback model predicts that this convergent behaviour results from motor neuron drive interacting with proprioceptive feedback. We identify and genetically2 suppress a single class of proprioceptive neuron3 that changes the motor neuron-induced convergence as predicted by the feedback model. These data suggest a framework for how the brain controls movements: instead of directly generating movement in a given direction by activating a fixed set of motor neurons, the brain controls movements by adding bias to a continuing proprioceptive-motor loop.

Colorimetric Synchronization of Drosophila Larvae.

The rapid succession of events during development poses an inherent challenge to achieve precise synchronization required for rigorous, quantitative phenotypic and genotypic analyses in multicellular model organisms. Drosophila melanogaster is an indispensable model for studying the development and function of higher order organisms due to extensive genome homology, tractability, and its relatively short lifespan. Presently, nine Nobel prizes serve as a testament to the utility of this elegant model system. Ongoing advancements in genetic and molecular tools allow for the underlying mechanisms of human disease to be investigated in Drosophila. However, the absence of a method to precisely age-match tissues during larval development prevents further capitalization of this powerful model organism. Drosophila spends nearly half of its life cycle progressing through three morphologically distinct larval instar stages, during which the imaginal discs, precursors of mature adult external structures (e.g., eyes, legs, wings), grow and develop distinct cell fates. Other tissues, such as the central nervous system, undergo massive morphological changes during larval development. While these three larval stages and subsequent pupal stages have historically been identified based on the number of hours post egg-laying under standard laboratory conditions, a reproducible, efficient, and inexpensive method is required to accurately age-match larvae within the third instar. The third instar stage is of particular interest, as this developmental stage spans a 48-hr window during which larval tissues switch from proliferative to differentiation programs. Moreover, some genetic manipulations can lead to developmental delays, further compounding the need for precise age-matching between control and experimental samples. This article provides a protocol optimized for synchronous staging of Drosophila third instar larvae by colorimetric characterization and is useful for age-matching a variety of tissues for numerous downstream applications. We also provide a brief discussion of the technical challenges associated with successful application of this protocol. © 2023 Wiley Periodicals LLC. Basic Protocol: Synchronization of third instar Drosophila larvae.

A rise-to-threshold process for a relative-value decision.

Whereas progress has been made in the identification of neural signals related to rapid, cued decisions1-3, less is known about how brains guide and terminate more ethologically relevant decisions in which an animal's own behaviour governs the options experienced over minutes4-6. Drosophila search for many seconds to minutes for egg-laying sites with high relative value7,8 and have neurons, called oviDNs, whose activity fulfills necessity and sufficiency criteria for initiating the egg-deposition motor programme9. Here we show that oviDNs express a calcium signal that (1) dips when an egg is internally prepared (ovulated), (2) drifts up and down over seconds to minutes-in a manner influenced by the relative value of substrates-as a fly determines whether to lay an egg and (3) reaches a consistent peak level just before the abdomen bend for egg deposition. This signal is apparent in the cell bodies of oviDNs in the brain and it probably reflects a behaviourally relevant rise-to-threshold process in the ventral nerve cord, where the synaptic terminals of oviDNs are located and where their output can influence behaviour. We provide perturbational evidence that the egg-deposition motor programme is initiated once this process hits a threshold and that subthreshold variation in this process regulates the time spent considering options and, ultimately, the choice taken. Finally, we identify a small recurrent circuit that feeds into oviDNs and show that activity in each of its constituent cell types is required for laying an egg. These results argue that a rise-to-threshold process regulates a relative-value, self-paced decision and provide initial insight into the underlying circuit mechanism for building this process.

Drosophila class-I myosins that can impact left-right asymmetry have distinct ATPase kinetics.

Myosin-1D (myo1D) is important for Drosophila left-right asymmetry, and its effects are modulated by myosin-1C (myo1C). De novo expression of these myosins in nonchiral Drosophila tissues promotes cell and tissue chirality, with handedness depending on the paralog expressed. Remarkably, the identity of the motor domain determines the direction of organ chirality, rather than the regulatory or tail domains. Myo1D, but not myo1C, propels actin filaments in leftward circles in in vitro experiments, but it is not known if this property contributes to establishing cell and organ chirality. To further explore if there are differences in the mechanochemistry of these motors, we determined the ATPase mechanisms of myo1C and myo1D. We found that myo1D has a 12.5-fold higher actin-activated steady-state ATPase rate, and transient kinetic experiments revealed myo1D has an 8-fold higher MgADP release rate compared to myo1C. Actin-activated phosphate release is rate limiting for myo1C, whereas MgADP release is the rate-limiting step for myo1D. Notably, both myosins have among the tightest MgADP affinities measured for any myosin. Consistent with ATPase kinetics, myo1D propels actin filaments at higher speeds compared to myo1C in in vitro gliding assays. Finally, we tested the ability of both paralogs to transport 50 nm unilamellar vesicles along immobilized actin filaments and found robust transport by myo1D and actin binding but no transport by myo1C. Our findings support a model where myo1C is a slow transporter with long-lived actin attachments, whereas myo1D has kinetic properties associated with a transport motor.

A phosphate-sensing organelle regulates phosphate and tissue homeostasis.

Inorganic phosphate (Pi) is one of the essential molecules for life. However, little is known about intracellular Pi metabolism and signalling in animal tissues1. Following the observation that chronic Pi starvation causes hyperproliferation in the digestive epithelium of Drosophila melanogaster, we determined that Pi starvation triggers the downregulation of the Pi transporter PXo. In line with Pi starvation, PXo deficiency caused midgut hyperproliferation. Interestingly, immunostaining and ultrastructural analyses showed that PXo specifically marks non-canonical multilamellar organelles (PXo bodies). Further, by Pi imaging with a Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET)-based Pi sensor2, we found that PXo restricts cytosolic Pi levels. PXo bodies require PXo for biogenesis and undergo degradation following Pi starvation. Proteomic and lipidomic characterization of PXo bodies unveiled their distinct feature as an intracellular Pi reserve. Therefore, Pi starvation triggers PXo downregulation and PXo body degradation as a compensatory mechanism to increase cytosolic Pi. Finally, we identified connector of kinase to AP-1 (Cka), a component of the STRIPAK complex and JNK signalling3, as the mediator of PXo knockdown- or Pi starvation-induced hyperproliferation. Altogether, our study uncovers PXo bodies as a critical regulator of cytosolic Pi levels and identifies a Pi-dependent PXo-Cka-JNK signalling cascade controlling tissue homeostasis.

Odour motion sensing enhances navigation of complex plumes.

Odour plumes in the wild are spatially complex and rapidly fluctuating structures carried by turbulent airflows1-4. To successfully navigate plumes in search of food and mates, insects must extract and integrate multiple features of the odour signal, including odour identity5, intensity6 and timing6-12. Effective navigation requires balancing these multiple streams of olfactory information and integrating them with other sensory inputs, including mechanosensory and visual cues9,12,13. Studies dating back a century have indicated that, of these many sensory inputs, the wind provides the main directional cue in turbulent plumes, leading to the longstanding model of insect odour navigation as odour-elicited upwind motion6,8-12,14,15. Here we show that Drosophila melanogaster shape their navigational decisions using an additional directional cue-the direction of motion of odours-which they detect using temporal correlations in the odour signal between their two antennae. Using a high-resolution virtual-reality paradigm to deliver spatiotemporally complex fictive odours to freely walking flies, we demonstrate that such odour-direction sensing involves algorithms analogous to those in visual-direction sensing16. Combining simulations, theory and experiments, we show that odour motion contains valuable directional information that is absent from the airflow alone, and that both Drosophila and virtual agents are aided by that information in navigating naturalistic plumes. The generality of our findings suggests that odour-direction sensing may exist throughout the animal kingdom and could improve olfactory robot navigation in uncertain environments.

Multi-view confocal microscopy enables multiple organ and whole organism live-imaging.

Understanding how development is coordinated in multiple tissues and gives rise to fully functional organs or whole organisms necessitates microscopy tools. Over the last decade numerous advances have been made in live-imaging, enabling high resolution imaging of whole organisms at cellular resolution. Yet, these advances mainly rely on mounting the specimen in agarose or aqueous solutions, precluding imaging of organisms whose oxygen uptake depends on ventilation. Here, we implemented a multi-view multi-scale microscopy strategy based on confocal spinning disk microscopy, called Multi-View confocal microScopy (MuViScopy). MuViScopy enables live-imaging of multiple organs with cellular resolution using sample rotation and confocal imaging without the need of sample embedding. We illustrate the capacity of MuViScopy by live-imaging Drosophila melanogaster pupal development throughout metamorphosis, highlighting how internal organs are formed and multiple organ development is coordinated. We foresee that MuViScopy will open the path to better understand developmental processes at the whole organism scale in living systems that require gas exchange by ventilation.

Emergence of a geometric pattern of cell fates from tissue-scale mechanics in the Drosophila eye.

Pattern formation of biological structures involves the arrangement of different types of cells in an ordered spatial configuration. In this study, we investigate the mechanism of patterning the Drosophila eye epithelium into a precise triangular grid of photoreceptor clusters called ommatidia. Previous studies had led to a long-standing biochemical model whereby a reaction-diffusion process is templated by recently formed ommatidia to propagate a molecular prepattern across the eye. Here, we find that the templating mechanism is instead, mechanochemical in origin; newly born columns of differentiating ommatidia serve as a template to spatially pattern flows that move epithelial cells into position to form each new column of ommatidia. Cell flow is generated by a source and sink, corresponding to narrow zones of cell dilation and contraction respectively, that straddle the growing wavefront of ommatidia. The newly formed lattice grid of ommatidia cells are immobile, deflecting, and focusing the flow of other cells. Thus, the self-organization of a regular pattern of cell fates in an epithelium is mechanically driven.

Gender Identification and Classification of Drosophila melanogaster Flies Using Machine Learning Techniques.

Drosophila melanogaster is an important genetic model organism used extensively in medical and biological studies. About 61% of known human genes have a recognizable match with the genetic code of Drosophila flies, and 50% of fly protein sequences have mammalian analogues. Recently, several investigations have been conducted in Drosophila to study the functions of specific genes exist in the central nervous system, heart, liver, and kidney. The outcomes of the research in Drosophila are also used as a unique tool to study human-related diseases. This article presents a novel automated system to classify the gender of Drosophila flies obtained through microscopic images (ventral view). The proposed system takes an image as input and converts it into grayscale illustration to extract the texture features from the image. Then, machine learning (ML) classifiers such as support vector machines (SVM), Naive Bayes (NB), and K-nearest neighbour (KNN) are used to classify the Drosophila as male or female. The proposed model is evaluated using the real microscopic image dataset, and the results show that the accuracy of the KNN is 90%, which is higher than the accuracy of the SVM classifier.

Regulation of coordinated muscular relaxation in Drosophila larvae by a pattern-regulating intersegmental circuit.

Typical patterned movements in animals are achieved through combinations of contraction and delayed relaxation of groups of muscles. However, how intersegmentally coordinated patterns of muscular relaxation are regulated by the neural circuits remains poorly understood. Here, we identify Canon, a class of higher-order premotor interneurons, that regulates muscular relaxation during backward locomotion of Drosophila larvae. Canon neurons are cholinergic interneurons present in each abdominal neuromere and show wave-like activity during fictive backward locomotion. Optogenetic activation of Canon neurons induces relaxation of body wall muscles, whereas inhibition of these neurons disrupts timely muscle relaxation. Canon neurons provide excitatory outputs to inhibitory premotor interneurons. Canon neurons also connect with each other to form an intersegmental circuit and regulate their own wave-like activities. Thus, our results demonstrate how coordinated muscle relaxation can be realized by an intersegmental circuit that regulates its own patterned activity and sequentially terminates motor activities along the anterior-posterior axis.

Hox dosage contributes to flight appendage morphology in Drosophila.

Flying insects have invaded all the aerial space on Earth and this astonishing radiation could not have been possible without a remarkable morphological diversification of their flight appendages. Here, we show that characteristic spatial expression profiles and levels of the Hox genes Antennapedia (Antp) and Ultrabithorax (Ubx) underlie the formation of two different flight organs in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. We further demonstrate that flight appendage morphology is dependent on specific Hox doses. Interestingly, we find that wing morphology from evolutionary distant four-winged insect species is also associated with a differential expression of Antp and Ubx. We propose that variation in the spatial expression profile and dosage of Hox proteins is a major determinant of flight appendage diversification in Drosophila and possibly in other insect species during evolution.

Drosophila O-GlcNAcase Mutants Reveal an Expanded Glycoproteome and Novel Growth and Longevity Phenotypes.

The reversible posttranslational O-GlcNAc modification of serine or threonine residues of intracellular proteins is involved in many cellular events from signaling cascades to epigenetic and transcriptional regulation. O-GlcNAcylation is a conserved nutrient-dependent process involving two enzymes, with O-GlcNAc transferase (OGT) adding O-GlcNAc and with O-GlcNAcase (OGA) removing it in a manner that's protein- and context-dependent. O-GlcNAcylation is essential for epigenetic regulation of gene expression through its action on Polycomb and Trithorax and COMPASS complexes. However, the important role of O-GlcNAc in adult life and health span has been largely unexplored, mainly due the lack of available model systems. Cataloging the O-GlcNAc proteome has proven useful in understanding the biology of this modification in vivo. In this study, we leveraged a recently developed oga knockout fly mutant to identify the O-GlcNAcylated proteins in adult Drosophilamelanogaster. The adult O-GlcNAc proteome revealed many proteins related to cell and organismal growth, development, differentiation, and epigenetics. We identified many O-GlcNAcylated proteins that play a role in increased growth and decreased longevity, including HCF, SIN3A, LOLA, KISMET, ATX2, SHOT, and FOXO. Interestingly, oga mutant flies are larger and have a shorter life span compared to wild type flies, suggesting increased O-GlcNAc results in increased growth. Our results suggest that O-GlcNAc alters the function of many proteins related to transcription, epigenetic modification and signaling pathways that regulate growth rate and longevity. Therefore, our findings highlight the importance of O-GlcNAc in growth and life span in adult Drosophila.

Inhibition of low-density lipoprotein uptake by Helicobacter pylori virulence factor CagA.

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection mainly causes gastroduodenal diseases, including chronic gastritis, peptic ulcer disease and gastric cancer. In recent years, several studies have demonstrated that infection with H. pylori, especially strains harboring the virulence factor CagA (cytotoxin-associated gene A), contribute to the development of non-gastric systemic diseases, including hypercholesterolemia and atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases. However, mechanisms underlying this association has not been defined. In this study, we carried out a large-scale genetic screen using Drosophila and identified a novel CagA target low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR), which aids in the clearance of circulating LDL. We showed that CagA physically interacted with LDLR via its carboxy-terminal region and inhibited LDLR-mediated LDL uptake into cells. Since deficiency of LDLR-mediated LDL uptake has been known to increase plasma LDL and accelerate atherosclerosis, our findings may provide a novel mechanism for the association between infection with CagA-positive H. pylori and hypercholesterolemia leading to atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases.

Seasonal plasticity: how do butterfly wing pattern traits evolve environmental responsiveness?

Phenotypic plasticity in response to environmental cues is common in butterflies, and is a major driver of butterfly wing pattern diversity. The endocrine signal ecdysone has been revealed as a major modulator of plasticity in butterflies. External cues such as day length or temperature are translated internally into variation in ecdysone titers, which in turn lead to alternate phenotypes such as seasonal wing patterns. Here we review the evidence showing that ecdysone-mediated plasticity of different wing pattern features such as wing color and eyespot size can evolve independently. Recent studies show that ecdysone regulates gene expression in Drosophila melanogaster via a chromatin remodeling mechanism. We thus propose that environmentally responsive ecdysone titers in butterflies may also function via chromatin regulation to promote different seasonal phenotypes. We present a model of ecdysone response evolution that integrates both gene regulatory architecture and organismal development, and propose a set of testable mechanistic hypotheses for how plastic response profiles of specific genes can evolve.

Accelerating with FlyBrainLab the discovery of the functional logic of the Drosophila brain in the connectomic and synaptomic era.

In recent years, a wealth of Drosophila neuroscience data have become available including cell type and connectome/synaptome datasets for both the larva and adult fly. To facilitate integration across data modalities and to accelerate the understanding of the functional logic of the fruit fly brain, we have developed FlyBrainLab, a unique open-source computing platform that integrates 3D exploration and visualization of diverse datasets with interactive exploration of the functional logic of modeled executable brain circuits. FlyBrainLab's User Interface, Utilities Libraries and Circuit Libraries bring together neuroanatomical, neurogenetic and electrophysiological datasets with computational models of different researchers for validation and comparison within the same platform. Seeking to transcend the limitations of the connectome/synaptome, FlyBrainLab also provides libraries for molecular transduction arising in sensory coding in vision/olfaction. Together with sensory neuron activity data, these libraries serve as entry points for the exploration, analysis, comparison, and evaluation of circuit functions of the fruit fly brain.

Mechano-chemical enforcement of tendon apical ECM into nano-filaments during Drosophila flight muscle development.

Contractile tension is critical for musculoskeletal system development and maintenance. In insects, the muscular force is transmitted to the exoskeleton through the tendon cells and tendon apical extracellular matrix (ECM). In Drosophila, we found tendon cells secrete Dumpy (Dpy), a zona pellucida domain (ZPD) protein, to form the force-resistant filaments in the exuvial space, anchoring the tendon cells to the pupal cuticle. We showed that Dpy undergoes filamentous conversion in response to the tension increment during indirect flight muscle development. We also found another ZPD protein Quasimodo (Qsm) protects the notum epidermis from collapsing under the muscle tension by enhancing the tensile strength of Dpy filaments. Qsm is co-transported with Dpy in the intracellular vesicles and diffuses into the exuvial space after secretion. Tissue-specific qsm expression rescued the qsm mutant phenotypes in distant tissues, suggesting Qsm can function in a long-range, non-cell-autonomous manner. In the cell culture assay, Qsm interacts with Dpy-ZPD and promotes secretion and polymerization of Dpy-ZPD. The roles of Qsm underlies the positive feedback mechanism of force-dependent organization of Dpy filaments, providing new insights into apical ECM remodeling through the unconventional interaction of ZPD proteins.

From Aedes to Zeugodacus: a review of dipteran body coloration studies regarding evolutionary developmental biology, pest control, and species discovery.

Over the past two decades, evo-devo (evolution of development) studies have elucidated genetic mechanisms underlying novel dipteran body color patterns. Here we review the most recent developments, which show some departure from the model organism Drosophila melanogaster, leading the field into the investigation of more complex color patterns. We also discuss how the robust application of transgenic techniques has facilitated the study of many non-model pest species. Furthermore, we see that subtle pigmentation differences guide the discovery and description of new dipterans. Therefore, we argue that the existence of new field guides and the prevalence of pigmentation studies in non-model flies will enable scientists to adopt uninvestigated species into the lab, allowing them to study novel morphologies.

Reproductive consequences of an extra long-term sperm storage organ.

BACKGROUND: Sperm storage plays a key role in the reproductive success of many sexually-reproducing organisms, and the capacity of long-term sperm storage varies across species. While there are theoretical explanations for why such variation exists, to date there are no controlled empirical tests of the reproductive consequences of additional long-term sperm storage. While Dipterans ancestrally have three long-term sperm organs, known as the spermathecae, Drosophila contain only two. RESULTS: We identified a candidate gene, which we call spermathreecae (sp3), in which a disruption cause the development of three functional spermathecae rather than the usual two in Drosophila. We used this disruption to test the reproductive consequences of having an additional long-term sperm storage organ. Compared to females with two spermathecae, females with three spermathecae store a greater total number of sperm and can produce offspring a greater length of time. However, they did not produce a greater total number of offspring. CONCLUSIONS: Thus, additional long-term sperm storage in insects may increase female fitness through extending the range of conditions where she produces offspring, or through increasing the quality of offspring via enhanced local sperm competition at fertilization.

An unbiased template of the Drosophila brain and ventral nerve cord.

The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster is an important model organism for neuroscience with a wide array of genetic tools that enable the mapping of individual neurons and neural subtypes. Brain templates are essential for comparative biological studies because they enable analyzing many individuals in a common reference space. Several central brain templates exist for Drosophila, but every one is either biased, uses sub-optimal tissue preparation, is imaged at low resolution, or does not account for artifacts. No publicly available Drosophila ventral nerve cord template currently exists. In this work, we created high-resolution templates of the Drosophila brain and ventral nerve cord using the best-available technologies for imaging, artifact correction, stitching, and template construction using groupwise registration. We evaluated our central brain template against the four most competitive, publicly available brain templates and demonstrate that ours enables more accurate registration with fewer local deformations in shorter time.