3D Imaging of Fruit Fly Neurons and Muscles - NCI Seminar

Explore cutting-edge 3D imaging technologies used to map fruit fly motor neurons and muscles in this 59-minute seminar. Delve into the creation of a "projectome map" and a "premotor connectome map" for Drosophila melanogaster, offering unprecedented insights into limbed animal neuromuscular systems. Learn about X-ray holographic nanotomography for imaging fly legs at 70 nm resolution, revealing intricate details of leg joints, musculature, and motor neuron innervation. Discover the application of automated transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to image the fly ventral nerve cord at 4x4x40 nm³ resolution. Understand how automated segmentation, manual proofreading, and synapse prediction techniques were employed to reconstruct motor neurons and identify their presynaptic partners. Gain valuable knowledge on reconciling datasets to determine muscle targets of motor neurons and examine premotor neuron connections. Explore novel insights and hypotheses generated from these maps regarding premotor network coordination of multi-jointed limbs for posture and locomotion control, as well as implications for neural computation in health and disease.