Peripheral anatomy and central connectivity of proprioceptive sensory neurons in the Drosophila wing

  1. Ellen Lesser
  2. Anthony J Moussa
  3. John C Tuthill  Is a corresponding author
  1. Department of Neurobiology and Biophysics, University of Washington, United States
8 figures, 4 tables and 1 additional file

Figures

Figure 1 with 1 supplement
Proprioceptive neurons on the Drosophila wing.

(A) The cell bodies and dendrites of sensory neurons are in the periphery, on the wing and wing hinge, and their axons project to the ventral nerve cord (VNC). Before entering the VNC, the sensory axons fasciculate together and enter through the Anterior Dorsal Mesothoracic Nerve (ADMN). (B) Proprioceptors on the wing include campaniform sensilla (CS), chordotonal organs (CO), and a hair plate (HP). Each campaniform sensillum dome is innervated by a single sensory neuron, as is each hair in a HP. A CO is made up of a group of sensory neurons with supporting cells that fix them to the underside of the cuticle (shown in blue). Blue asterisks (bottom right) indicate a single external hair in the HP. Images show the membrane-bound fluorescent label mCD8::GFP to highlight each proprioceptor type. See Appendix 1—table 3 for details on which proprioceptors are labeled by which driver lines, driver lines for representative images in this panel are: single CS (12C07-GAL4); field CS (10G03-GAL4); CO (15F10-GAL4); HP (16C09-GAL4). Scale bars are 10 μm. (C) Location of sensory neurons on the wing and wing hinge. The location of sensory neurons and the number of CS in each field are based on confocal images and a prior study (Dinges et al., 2021). A subset of sclerites and other structures that make up the wing hinge are included as landmarks: pterale C (ptC), the anterior nodal wing process (ANWP, which also features three CS), the parascutal shelf (ps), and the second axillary (ax ii). (D) We reconstructed each sensory axon in the ADMN wing nerve to visualize its full morphology and analyze downstream connectivity in the VNC. More information on each of these steps is in Azevedo et al., 2024. In the nerve cross-section, the motor domain and margin bristle domains are highlighted by outlined yellow and mauve masks.

Figure 1—figure supplement 1
Pipeline for matching 3D reconstructed axons to sensory neurons on the wing and wing hinge.

Driver lines were identified by their sparse expression in the wing nerve, then crossed to a membrane-bound GFP (UAS-mCD8::GFP), imaged with a confocal microscope, and then compared with literature for identification. For details on matching peripheral wing anatomy to literature, see Appendix 1—table 2.

Postsynaptic connectivity and morphology of wing sensory axons.

(A) Connectivity matrix based on the left wing proprioceptors and postsynaptic neurons in the ventral nerve cord (VNC). Only partners with at least five synapses from a single proprioceptor are shown. For visualization simplicity, we do not show: (1) a descending neuron that is postsynaptic to sensory neurons (0.1% of the proprioceptive outputs), (2) a single non-motor efferent neuron (0.1%), and (3) unproofread or fragment neurons (9.7%). Postsynaptic neurons are classified as either motor neurons, sensory neurons, VNC intrinsic neurons, or ascending neurons (axons project to the brain). Within each class, postsynaptic neurons were then sorted according to which wing proprioceptor they receive the most synapses from. The number of synapses is displayed on a log scale. (B) Cosine similarity matrix of the 126 left wing axons not from margin bristles. Axons are ordered by agglomerative clustering. The inset shows pairwise similarity scores for each pair of axons. Within-cluster similarity is greater than between clusters (permutation test; 10,000 permutations, observed difference = 0.34, p<0.05). Boxes in the matrix indicate clusters of axons with similar morphology, with the number next to each cluster indicating the morphology clusters in (C–E). Filled green boxes indicate morphologies identified in this study. See Appendix 1—table 1 and Methods for details on matching axon morphologies to prior literature.

Campaniform sensilla (CS) on the tegula target the tonic wing steering motor neuron b1.

(A) Connectivity between previously uncharacterized wing sensory axons and wing steering motor neurons. Wing steering motor neurons (columns) are grouped by motor modules, which are groups of motor neurons that receive a high degree of synaptic input from shared presynaptic partners and are therefore likely to be co-activated (Lesser et al., 2024). The green box behind the plot highlights a group of axons with a shared morphology, discussed in the rest of the figure. (B) The left b1 motor neuron with circles showing predicted synapse locations from the Female Adult Nerve Cord (FANC) electron microscopy (EM) volume. (C) 3D reconstructions of the left b1 motor neuron (black) and all the sensory axons from which it receives direct synaptic input. Inset: three example individual axons from the left wing to demonstrate the variation in axon branching. (D) Ultrastructure of putative electrical synapses: these sensory axons feature densely packed mitochondria at terminals near the b1 motor neuron. (E) A similarly high density of mitochondria is also seen at axon terminals of a wing contralateral haltere interneuron (w-ChiN), which likely have electrical synapses onto b1 based on dye-fill experiments (Trimarchi and Murphey, 1997). (F) Axon branching pattern in VNC. Axons are from two morphological clusters (#6 and #7 from Figure 2). Below: rotated view of the VNC. (G) Maximum projection from FlyLight Z-stack of images of the driver line 13B12-GAL4. The projection crossing the midline (indicated by a white asterisk) is from a different sensory neuron that enters through the Posterior Dorsal Mesothoracic Nerve and innervates a thorax bristle. (H) Expression in the periphery. Maximum projection from confocal Z-stack showing sensory neurons that innervate the CS field on the tegula. The driver line also labels two tegula HP hairs, but their axon morphology is distinct (see Figure 4). Wing hinge abbreviations: anterior nodal wing process (ANWP), first axillary (ax i).

Tegula hair plate.

(A) 3D reconstructed axons. Above: population of axons with similar morphology (black) and ventral nerve cord (VNC) volume (gray). Below: rotated view to show how the axons split to scoop around the dorsal and ventral edges of the wing neuropil. (B) Axon branching pattern in VNC. Axons are from morphological cluster #10 in Figure 2. Maximum projection from the FlyLight MCFO collection of the driver line 16C09-GAL4. (C) Expression in the periphery. Maximum projection from confocal Z-stack showing sensory neurons that innervate the hairs of the tegula hair plate. Red arrow indicates an external hair plate hair. Wing hinge abbreviations: anterior nodal wing process (ANWP), first axillary (ax i).

Tegula chordotonal organ.

(A) 3D reconstructed axons. Axons are from two morphological clusters (#17 and #18 in Figure 2). (B) Axon branching pattern in ventral nerve cord (VNC). Maximum projection from FlyLight Z-stack of images of the driver line 60D12-GAL4. (C) Expression in the periphery. Maximum projection from confocal Z-stack showing sensory neurons that innervate the chordotonal organ in the tegula. There are two clusters of neurons, which are differentiated by their separate attachment points within the tegula. 60D12-GAL4 labels neurons from both clusters. (D) Maximum z-projection of the proximal wing co-labeling iav-GAL4 with ChAT-LexA. ChAT-LexA labels nearly all sensory neurons (green, nuclear stain) and iav-GAL4 labels the radius chordotonal organs (CO) but not the tegula CO (red, nuclear stain). (E) Phalloidin labels the actin-rich cap cells that are part of chordotonal organs. Asterisk indicates muscle that is also labeled by phalloidin. (F) nompC-GAL4 labels all sensory neurons in the tegula, including the chordotonal organ.

Radius chordotonal organ.

(A) 3D reconstructed axons. Axons are from the morphological clusters #3, #4, and #5 in Figure 2. Green arrow indicates the characteristic lateral projection found in each neuron. (B) A sparse driver line, 10A07-GAL4, labels a subset of neurons that make up the radius chordotonal organ. For other driver lines that label radius chordotonal neurons, see Appendix 1—table 3. (C) Peripheral expression of 10A07-GAL4>UAS-mCD8::GFP. (D) Peripheral anatomy of the radius chordotonal organ, which is better shown by a broad driver line, 15F10-GAL4>UAS-mCD8::GFP. The radius chordotonal organ attaches to the ventral inner wall of the radius by cap cells (blue). A blue arrow is shown across the confocal images and cartoons to orient to the ‘pocket’ in the radius near the chordotonal organs (CO) cell bodies.

Sensory axons near the wing hinge.

(A) 3D reconstructed axons. Axons belong to the morphological cluster #12 from Figure 2. (B) Axon branching pattern in ventral nerve cord (VNC). Maximum projection from the FlyLight MCFO collection of the driver line 37D11-GAL4. (C) Expression in the periphery. Top: maximum projection from confocal Z-stack of a broader driver line, 10G03-GAL4, to show the morphology of the sensory neurons at the base of the parascutal shelf. Below: maximum projection from confocal Z-stack of the sparse driver line 37D11-GAL4>UAS-mCD8::GFP showing neurons labeled at the base of the parascutal shelf. The asterisk marks an innervated bristle on the thorax. (D) Pterale C is not an innervated sclerite. Pterale C was previously predicted to be innervated based on experiments in which an electrode placed at the base of pterale C recorded signals in response to wing vibration (Miyan and Ewing, 1984). We found no neurons innervating pterale C, but we did observe that the axon bundle from the radius passes directly under pterale C, which could explain previously published results.

Campaniform sensilla in the same field have unique axons.

(A) The ventral radius C (v.Rad.C) field of campaniform sensilla is on the ventral side of the more distal part of the radius. The field has four to five domes, the fifth dome is proposed to be its own individual dome as it is farther apart from the other four and its orientation is slightly different (Dinges et al., 2021). (B) Summary of the campaniform sensilla (CS) within v.Rad.C that are labeled by sparse GAL4 lines shown in C. (C) Peripheral expression in specific campaniform sensilla from sparse driver lines (each row). Maximum projection from confocal Z-stack showing expression in the periphery from each sparse driver line. CS in v.Rad.C are labeled 1-4 as in (B) to show which CS is innervated in each image. (D) Pairs of images showing (left) A depth-colored single channel MCFO Z-stack from the FlyLight collection (Meissner et al., 2023), with the wing axon highlighted in the image. The contrast of z-sections was optimized to emphasize visual clarity of wing axons; see Methods for details. (Right) The reconstructed axon from electron microscopy (EM) that best matches the morphology, depth-colored and aligned to the same template as the FlyLight images. (E) Postsynaptic connectivity of axons with morphologies that match those found for v.Rad.C. Postsynaptic connectivity is more similar for axons with similar morphologies than from the same CS field.

Tables

Key resources table
Reagent type (species) or resourceDesignationSource or referenceIdentifiersAdditional information
AntibodyAlexa Fluor Phalloidin 647Thermo FisherThermo Fisher A222871:50 in PBST
Genetic reagent (D. melanogaster)10A07-GAL4Bloomington Drosophila Stock CenterRRID:BDSC_48435w[1118]; P{y[+t7.7] w[+mC]=GMR10A07-GAL4}attP2
Genetic reagent (D. melanogaster)10F07-GAL4Bloomington Drosophila Stock CenterRRID:BDSC_48266w[1118]; P{y[+t7.7] w[+mC]=GMR10F07-GAL4}attP2
Genetic reagent (D. melanogaster)10G03-GAL4Bloomington Drosophila Stock CenterRRID:BDSC_48271w[1118]; P{y[+t7.7] w[+mC]=GMR10G03-GAL4}attP2
Genetic reagent (D. melanogaster)12C07-GAL4Bloomington Drosophila Stock CenterRRID:BDSC_48496w[1118]; P{y[+t7.7] w[+mC]=GMR12C07-GAL4}attP2
Genetic reagent (D. melanogaster)13B12-GAL4Bloomington Drosophila Stock CenterRRID:BDSC_45796w[1118]; P{y[+t7.7] w[+mC]=GMR13B12-GAL4}attP2
Genetic reagent (D. melanogaster)15F10-GAL4Bloomington Drosophila Stock CenterRRID:BDSC_49266w[1118]; P{y[+t7.7] w[+mC]=GMR15F10-GAL4}attP2
Genetic reagent (D. melanogaster)16C09-GAL4Bloomington Drosophila Stock CenterRRID:BDSC_48720w[1118]; P{y[+t7.7] w[+mC]=GMR16C09-GAL4}attP2
Genetic reagent (D. melanogaster)21A01-GAL4Bloomington Drosophila Stock CenterRRID:BDSC_49853w[1118]; P{y[+t7.7] w[+mC]=GMR21A01-GAL4}attP2
Genetic reagent (D. melanogaster)21C09-GAL4Bloomington Drosophila Stock CenterRRID:BDSC_48936w[1118]; P{y[+t7.7] w[+mC]=GMR21C09-GAL4}attP2
Genetic reagent (D. melanogaster)24C04-GAL4Bloomington Drosophila Stock CenterRRID:BDSC_49072w[1118]; P{y[+t7.7] w[+mC]=GMR24C04-GAL4}attP2
Genetic reagent (D. melanogaster)26B11-GAL4Bloomington Drosophila Stock CenterRRID:BDSC_49164w[1118]; P{y[+t7.7] w[+mC]=GMR26B11-GAL4}attP2
Genetic reagent (D. melanogaster)26D04-GAL4Bloomington Drosophila Stock CenterRRID:BDSC_49175w[1118]; P{y[+t7.7] w[+mC]=GMR26D04-GAL4}attP2
Genetic reagent (D. melanogaster)26F04-GAL4Bloomington Drosophila Stock CenterRRID:BDSC_49191w[1118]; P{y[+t7.7] w[+mC]=GMR26F04-GAL4}attP2
Genetic reagent (D. melanogaster)35B08-GAL4Bloomington Drosophila Stock CenterRRID:BDSC_49818w[1118]; P{y[+t7.7] w[+mC]=GMR35B08-GAL4}attP2
Genetic reagent (D. melanogaster)36C09-GAL4Bloomington Drosophila Stock CenterRRID:BDSC_49933w[1118]; P{y[+t7.7] w[+mC]=GMR36C09-GAL4}attP2
Genetic reagent (D. melanogaster)37D11-GAL4Bloomington Drosophila Stock CenterRRID:BDSC_49536w[1118]; P{y[+t7.7] w[+mC]=GMR37D11-GAL4}attP2
Genetic reagent (D. melanogaster)38H01-GAL4Bloomington Drosophila Stock CenterRRID:BDSC_50025w[1118]; P{y[+t7.7] w[+mC]=GMR38H01-GAL4}attP2
Genetic reagent (D. melanogaster)39 F05-GAL4Bloomington Drosophila Stock CenterRRID:BDSC_50056w[1118]; P{y[+t7.7] w[+mC]=GMR39F05-GAL4}attP2
Genetic reagent (D. melanogaster)42G08-GAL4Bloomington Drosophila Stock CenterRRID:BDSC_50166w[1118]; P{y[+t7.7] w[+mC]=GMR42G08-GAL4}attP2
Genetic reagent (D. melanogaster)44G12-GAL4Bloomington Drosophila Stock CenterRRID:BDSC_47933w[1118]; P{y[+t7.7] w[+mC]=GMR44G12-GAL4}attP2
Genetic reagent (D. melanogaster)44H11-GAL4Bloomington Drosophila Stock CenterRRID:BDSC_41268w[1118]; P{y[+t7.7] w[+mC]=GMR44H11-GAL4}attP2
Genetic reagent (D. melanogaster)45D07-GAL4Bloomington Drosophila Stock CenterRRID:BDSC_49562w[1118]; P{y[+t7.7] w[+mC]=GMR45D07-GAL4}attP2
Genetic reagent (D. melanogaster)48H11-GAL4Bloomington Drosophila Stock CenterRRID:BDSC_50396w[1118]; P{y[+t7.7] w[+mC]=GMR48H11-GAL4}attP2
Genetic reagent (D. melanogaster)49F11-GAL4Bloomington Drosophila Stock CenterRRID:BDSC_38701w[1118]; P{y[+t7.7] w[+mC]=GMR49F11-GAL4}attP2
Genetic reagent (D. melanogaster)54H12-GAL4Bloomington Drosophila Stock CenterRRID:BDSC_48205w[1118]; P{y[+t7.7] w[+mC]=GMR54 H12-GAL4}attP2/TM3, Sb[1]
Genetic reagent (D. melanogaster)57F03-GAL4Bloomington Drosophila Stock CenterRRID:BDSC_46386w[1118]; P{y[+t7.7] w[+mC]=GMR57F03-GAL4}attP2
Genetic reagent (D. melanogaster)60B12-GAL4Bloomington Drosophila Stock CenterRRID:BDSC_39239w[1118]; P{y[+t7.7] w[+mC]=GMR60B12-GAL4}attP2
Genetic reagent (D. melanogaster)60D12-GAL4Bloomington Drosophila Stock CenterRRID:BDSC_39249w[1118]; P{y[+t7.7] w[+mC]=GMR60D12-GAL4}attP2
Genetic reagent (D. melanogaster)60G04-GAL4Bloomington Drosophila Stock CenterRRID:BDSC_39258w[1118]; P{y[+t7.7] w[+mC]=GMR60G04-GAL4}attP2
Genetic reagent (D. melanogaster)64C04-GAL4Bloomington Drosophila Stock CenterRRID:BDSC_39296w[1118]; P{y[+t7.7] w[+mC]=GMR64C04-GAL4}attP2
Genetic reagent (D. melanogaster)70G12-GAL4Bloomington Drosophila Stock CenterRRID:BDSC_39552w[1118]; P{y[+t7.7] w[+mC]=GMR70G12-GAL4}attP2
Genetic reagent (D. melanogaster)72C01-GAL4Bloomington Drosophila Stock CenterRRID:BDSC_47729w[1118]; P{y[+t7.7] w[+mC]=GMR72C01-GAL4}attP2
Genetic reagent (D. melanogaster)73F02-GAL4Bloomington Drosophila Stock CenterRRID:BDSC_39824w[1118]; P{y[+t7.7] w[+mC]=GMR73F02-GAL4}attP2
Genetic reagent (D. melanogaster)75B09-GAL4Bloomington Drosophila Stock CenterRRID:BDSC_39883w[1118]; P{y[+t7.7] w[+mC]=GMR75B09-GAL4}attP2
Genetic reagent (D. melanogaster)76E12-GAL4Bloomington Drosophila Stock CenterRRID:BDSC_47753w[1118]; P{y[+t7.7] w[+mC]=GMR76E12-GAL4}attP2
Genetic reagent (D. melanogaster)79G12-GAL4Bloomington Drosophila Stock CenterRRID:BDSC_40051w[1118]; P{y[+t7.7] w[+mC]=GMR79G12-GAL4}attP2
Genetic reagent (D. melanogaster)83B04-GAL4Bloomington Drosophila Stock CenterRRID:BDSC_41309w[1118]; P{y[+t7.7] w[+mC]=GMR83B04-GAL4}attP2
Genetic reagent (D. melanogaster)nompC-GAL4Bloomington Drosophila Stock CenterRRID:BDSC_36361y[1] w[*]; PBac{y[+mDint2] w[+mC]=nompC GAL4.P}VK00014; Df(3 L)Ly, sens[Ly-1]/TM6C, Sb[1] Tb[1]
Genetic reagent (D. melanogaster)UAS-mCD8::GFPGift from Rubin Lab, JaneliaGift from Rubin Lab, JaneliaP{pJFRC7-020XUAS-IVSmCD8::GFP}attP2
Appendix 1—table 1
ADMN sensory axon identification and nomenclature.
Sensory structureAxon morphology identificationMANC connectome nomenclature (Marin et al., 2024)
Small campaniform sensilla (proximal)Palka et al., 1979; Ghysen, 1980SApp04, SApp10, SApp11, SApp13, SApp14, SApp18, SApp19, SApp20, SApp21
Small campaniform sensilla (distal)Palka et al., 1979; Ghysen, 1980SNpp04, SNpp08, SNpp11, SNpp33, SNpp36, SNpp06, SNpp26
Large campaniform sensillaBurt and Palka, 1982; Palka et al., 1986SNpp30, SNpp32, SNpp31
Tegula campaniform sensillaLesser et al., 2024SNpp28, SNpp37, SNpp38
Tegula hair plateLesser et al., 2024SNxx26
Tegula chordotonal organLesser et al., 2024SNpp07, SNpp10
Radius chordotonal organLesser et al., 2024SNpp29, SNpp61, SNpp62, SNpp63
Thorax sensorLesser et al., 2024SNpp16
Thorax macrocheteGhysen, 1980; Kays et al., 2014SNta05, SNta10, SNta12, SNta13
Thorax microcheteGhysen, 1978; Ghysen, 1980SNta01, SNta02, SNta09
Margin mechanosensorsPalka et al., 1979SNta04, SNta06, SNta07, SNta08, SNta11, SNta14, SNta18
Margin chemosensorsLu et al., 2012; Thistle et al., 2012; Koh et al., 2014SNch02, SNch03, SNch04, SNch12
Unknown-SNpp05, SNpp09, SNpp13, SNpp27, SNxx28, SNtaxx, SNxxxx, SNxx24, SNxx25
Appendix 1—table 2
Literature characterizing peripheral anatomy of wing mechanosensory neurons.
PaperStructures identified
Hertweck, 1931Chordotonal organ in the radius, thorax sensor.
Fudalewicz-Niemczyk, 1963Neuronal innervation in wings of ten dipteran species.
Cole and Palka, 1982Differences in peripheral morphologies of wing campaniform sensilla domes; Homologies between wing campaniform sensilla and haltere campaniform sensilla.
Hartenstein and Posakony, 1989Comprehensive identification of wing and thorax bristles throughout development.
Dinges et al., 2021Comprehensive atlas of all campaniform sensilla in Drosophila melanogaster.
Appendix 1—table 3
Driver lines labeling wing sensory neurons.

Numbers in the table indicate how many neurons are labeled, e.g., 4 of 24 radius chordotonal organs (CO) neurons for the first driver line, 10A07-GAL4.

Peripheral structureRadius COTegula COANWP CSTegula CS fieldd.Rad.Ad.Rad.Bd.Rad.Cv.Rad.Av.Rad.Bv.Rad.Cd.Rad.Dd.Rad.EdS-1 & 2d.HCVGSRTSM-1 & 2ACVL3-1L3-2L3-3v.HCVL3-VThorax receptorTegula hair plateTegula hairs
# of neuronstotal~24~143184718435482112111111556
10A07-Gal444
10F07-Gal4871
10G03-Gal49225
12C07-Gal4192101321
13B12-Gal41082
15F10-Gal42424
16C09-Gal444
21A01-Gal455
21C09-Gal47241
24C04-Gal4862
26B11-Gal422
26D04-Gal4125232
26F04-Gal4364717242
35B08-Gal433
36C09-Gal444
37D11-Gal48152
38H01-Gal4211
39F05-Gal411
42G08-Gal422
44H11-Gal4981
48H11-Gal444
49F11-Gal477
54H12-Gal492223
57F03-Gal455
60B12-Gal44211
60D12-Gal41010
60G04-Gal455
64C04-Gal46411
70G12-Gal422
72C01-Gal466
73F02-Gal422
75B09-Gal42142132
76E12-Gal488
79G12-Gal411
83B04-Gal455

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  1. Ellen Lesser
  2. Anthony J Moussa
  3. John C Tuthill
(2026)
Peripheral anatomy and central connectivity of proprioceptive sensory neurons in the Drosophila wing
eLife 14:RP107867.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.107867.3