A high-quality connectome of the complete female adult Drosophila central nervous system

We previously proposed to generate a complete connectome for the adult male Drosophila central nervous system (CNS), comprising both brain and nerve cord.

Capitalising on that investment, this discretionary award would allow us to deliver a second, high-quality, female connectome just one year later, at a fraction of the cost.

This would be the first full CNS connectome, bilaterally complete and with sensorimotor circuits intact, of an adult female animal with complex behaviours.

It would immediately allow comparisons of neuronal number, morphology, and connectivity across 1) hemispheres (this animal), 2) sexes (with the male CNS), and 3) three same-sex individuals (with partial datasets FAFB and the hemibrain) and global estimates of intra-individual, inter-sex, and inter-individual variation.

The PIs will use this joint resource to investigate circuitry underlying sexually dimorphic behaviours such as decision-making (e.g., mating receptivity and egg-laying), aggression, sensory integration and descending control of motor programmes, memory formation and recall, and sleep.

We will make both datasets available with a range of analytic tools for use by the >200 labs studying Drosophila neurobiology worldwide.

Moreover, we expect the technology and pipelines developed for obtaining and comparing these connectomes to facilitate future studies in other organisms, ultimately including humans.