TY - JOUR T1 - Opposing subclasses of <em>Drosophila</em> ellipsoid body neurons promote and suppress sleep JF - bioRxiv DO - 10.1101/2021.10.19.464469 SP - 2021.10.19.464469 AU - Abigail Aleman AU - Jaison Jiro Omoto AU - Prabhjit Singh AU - Bao-Chau Nguyen AU - Pratyush Kandimalla AU - Volker Hartenstein AU - Jeffrey M. Donlea Y1 - 2021/01/01 UR - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/10/19/2021.10.19.464469.abstract N2 - Recent work in Drosophila has uncovered several neighboring classes of sleep-regulatory neurons within the central complex. However, the logic of connectivity and network motifs remains limited by the incomplete examination of relevant cell types. Using a recent genetic-anatomical classification of ellipsoid body ring neurons, we conducted a thermogenetic screen to assess sleep/wake behavior and discovered two opposing populations: sleep-promoting R3m and wake-promoting R3d neurons. Activation of these neurons influences sleep duration and architecture by prolonging or shortening sleep bouts, suggesting a key role in sleep maintenance. R3m and R3d neurons are GABAergic and require GABA synthesis for their effects on sleep. Finally, we use a fluorescent reporter for putative synaptic partners to embed these neurons within the known sleep-regulatory network; R3m and R3d neurons lay downstream of wake-active Helicon cells, and R3m neurons likely inhibit R3d neurons. Together, the data presented herein suggest a neural mechanism by which previously uncharacterized circuit elements operate within the sleep homeostat to stabilize sleep-wake states.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest. ER -