3 votes

Regulated peristalsis into the acidic region of the Drosophila larval midgut is controlled by a novel component of the Autonomic Nervous System

Dennis Richard LaJeunesse¹, Brooke Ann Johnson¹, Jason Presnell¹, Kathleen K. Catignas¹ & Grzegorz Zapotoczny²

Correspondence: (Login to view email address)

1. Department of Biology, UNC Greensboro
2. Institute of Genetics and Microbiology, University of Wroclaw

PDF (481.1 KB)

Document Type:

Manuscript

Date:

Received 19 October 2009 18:20 UTC; Posted 23 October 2009

Subjects:

Developmental Biology, Neuroscience

Tags:

• Autonomic Nervous System
• Drosophila larval midgut
• Superior Cupric Autonomic Nervous System
• visceral muscle
• peristalsis

Abstract:

The underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms that regulate and coordinate critical physiological processes such as peristalsis are complex, often cryptic, and involve the integration of multiple tissues and organ systems within the organism. We have identified a completely novel component of the larval autonomic nervous system in the Drosophila larval midgut that is essential for the peristaltic movement of food from the anterior midgut into the acidic region of the midgut. We have named this region the Superior Cupric Autonomic Nervous System or SCANS. Located at the junction of the anterior and the acidic portions of the midgut, the SCANS is characterized by a cluster of a novel neuro-enteroendocrine cells that we call Lettuce Head Cells, a valve, and two anterior muscular tethers to the dorsal gastric caeca. Using cell ablation and ectopic activation via expression of the Chlamydomonas reinhardtii blue-light activated channelrhodopsin, we demonstrate that the SCANS and in particular the Lettuce Head Cells are both necessary and sufficient for peristalsis and perhaps serve a larger role by coordinating digestion throughout the anterior midgut with development and growth.

Discussion

Votes:

3 votes

(Login to vote)

Comments:

0 comments

(Login to post a comment)

Share:

(Login to share with a colleague)

Additional information

License:

This document is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License

How to cite this document:

LaJeunesse, Dennis Richard, Johnson, Brooke Ann, Presnell, Jason, Catignas, Kathleen, and Zapotoczny, Grzegorz. Regulated peristalsis into the acidic region of the Drosophila larval midgut is controlled by a novel component of the Autonomic Nervous System. Available from Nature Precedings <http://hdl.handle.net/10101/npre.2009.3873.1> (2009)

Version info:

Other versions of this document in Nature Precedings

None.

Other versions of this document elsewhere on the web

None known.

Submit a new version link