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Connectomic Analysis of the Drosophila Lateral Neuron Clock Cells Reveals the Synaptic Basis of Functional Pacemaker Classes

View ORCID ProfileO.T. Shafer, View ORCID ProfileG.J. Gutierrez, View ORCID ProfileK. Li, View ORCID ProfileA. Mildenhall, View ORCID ProfileD. Spira, View ORCID ProfileJ. Marty, View ORCID ProfileA.A. Lazar, View ORCID ProfileM.P. Fernandez
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.03.02.482743
O.T. Shafer
1Advanced Science Research Center, Graduate Center, The City University of New York. New York, NY 10031
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G.J. Gutierrez
2Center for Theoretical Neuroscience, Zuckerman Institute, Columbia University. New York, NY 10027
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K. Li
3Department of Neuroscience and Behavior, Barnard College. New York, NY 10027
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A. Mildenhall
3Department of Neuroscience and Behavior, Barnard College. New York, NY 10027
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D. Spira
2Center for Theoretical Neuroscience, Zuckerman Institute, Columbia University. New York, NY 10027
3Department of Neuroscience and Behavior, Barnard College. New York, NY 10027
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J. Marty
4Department of Electrical Engineering, Columbia University. New York, NY 10027
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A.A. Lazar
4Department of Electrical Engineering, Columbia University. New York, NY 10027
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M.P. Fernandez
3Department of Neuroscience and Behavior, Barnard College. New York, NY 10027
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  • For correspondence: mfernand@barnard.edu
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Abstract

The circadian clock orchestrates daily changes in physiology and behavior to ensure internal temporal order and optimal timing across the day. In animals, a central brain clock coordinates circadian rhythms throughout the body and is characterized by a remarkable robustness that depends on synaptic connections between constituent neurons. The clock neuron network of Drosophila, which shares network motifs with clock networks in the mammalian brain yet is built of many fewer neurons, offers a powerful model for understanding the network properties of circadian timekeeping. Here we report an assessment of synaptic connectivity within a clock network, focusing on the critical lateral neuron (LN) clock neuron classes. Our results reveal that previously identified anatomical and functional subclasses of LNs represent distinct connectomic types. Moreover, we identify a small number of clock cell subtypes representing highly synaptically coupled nodes within the clock neuron network. This suggests that neurons lacking molecular timekeeping likely play integral roles within the circadian timekeeping network. To our knowledge, this represents the first comprehensive connectomic analysis of a circadian neuronal network.

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

Footnotes

  • ↵* Equal contribution

  • Minor edits have been performed throughout the text and figures.

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-NC 4.0 International license.
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Posted March 30, 2022.
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Connectomic Analysis of the Drosophila Lateral Neuron Clock Cells Reveals the Synaptic Basis of Functional Pacemaker Classes
O.T. Shafer, G.J. Gutierrez, K. Li, A. Mildenhall, D. Spira, J. Marty, A.A. Lazar, M.P. Fernandez
bioRxiv 2022.03.02.482743; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.03.02.482743
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Connectomic Analysis of the Drosophila Lateral Neuron Clock Cells Reveals the Synaptic Basis of Functional Pacemaker Classes
O.T. Shafer, G.J. Gutierrez, K. Li, A. Mildenhall, D. Spira, J. Marty, A.A. Lazar, M.P. Fernandez
bioRxiv 2022.03.02.482743; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.03.02.482743

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