TY - JOUR TI - Single cell transcriptome atlas of the Drosophila larval brain AU - Brunet Avalos, Clarisse AU - Maier, G Larisa AU - Bruggmann, Rémy AU - Sprecher, Simon G A2 - VijayRaghavan, K VL - 8 PY - 2019 DA - 2019/11/20 SP - e50354 C1 - eLife 2019;8:e50354 DO - 10.7554/eLife.50354 UR - https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.50354 AB - Cell diversity of the brain and how it is affected by starvation, remains largely unknown. Here, we introduce a single cell transcriptome atlas of the entire Drosophila first instar larval brain. We first assigned cell-type identity based on known marker genes, distinguishing five major groups: neural progenitors, differentiated neurons, glia, undifferentiated neurons and non-neural cells. All major classes were further subdivided into multiple subtypes, revealing biological features of various cell-types. We further assessed transcriptional changes in response to starvation at the single-cell level. While after starvation the composition of the brain remains unaffected, transcriptional profile of several cell clusters changed. Intriguingly, different cell-types show very distinct responses to starvation, suggesting the presence of cell-specific programs for nutrition availability. Establishing a single-cell transcriptome atlas of the larval brain provides a powerful tool to explore cell diversity and assess genetic profiles from developmental, functional and behavioral perspectives. KW - single cell transcriptome KW - Drosophila KW - larva KW - brain KW - cell diversity KW - nervous system JF - eLife SN - 2050-084X PB - eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd ER -