RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 A single-cell transcriptomic atlas of the adult Drosophila ventral nerve cord JF bioRxiv FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory SP 2019.12.20.883884 DO 10.1101/2019.12.20.883884 A1 Aaron M. Allen A1 Megan C. Neville A1 Sebastian Birtles A1 Vincent Croset A1 Christoph D. Treiber A1 Scott Waddell A1 Stephen F. Goodwin YR 2019 UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2019/12/20/2019.12.20.883884.abstract AB The Drosophila ventral nerve cord (VNC) receives and processes descending signals from the brain to produce a variety of coordinated locomotor outputs. It also integrates sensory information from the periphery and sends ascending signals to the brain. We used single-cell transcriptomics to generate an unbiased classification of cellular diversity in the VNC of five-day old adult flies. We produced an atlas of 26,000 high-quality cells, representing more than 100 transcriptionally distinct cell types. The predominant gene signatures defining neuronal cell types reflect shared developmental histories based on the neuroblast from which cells were derived, as well as their birth order. Cells could also be assigned to specific neuromeres using adult Hox gene expression. This single-cell transcriptional atlas of the adult fly VNC will be a valuable resource for future studies of neurodevelopment and behavior.