Multilayer regulation underlies the functional precision and evolutionary potential of the olfactory system
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Sensory neurons must be reproducibly specified to permit accurate neural representation of external signals but also able to change during evolution. We studied this paradox in the Drosophila olfactory system by establishing a single-cell transcriptomic atlas of all developing antennal sensory lineages, including latent neural populations that normally undergo programmed cell death (PCD). This atlas reveals that transcriptional control is robust, but imperfect, in defining selective sensory receptor expression. A second layer of precision is afforded by the intersection of expression of functionally-interacting receptor subunits. A third layer is defined by stereotyped PCD patterning, which masks promiscuous receptor expression in neurons fated to die and removes "empty" neurons lacking receptors. Like receptor choice, PCD is under lineage-specific transcriptional control; promiscuity in this regulation leads to previously-unappreciated heterogeneity in neuronal numbers. Thus, functional precision in the mature olfactory system belies developmental imprecision that might facilitate the evolution of sensory pathways.
Source: Nature Communications
Language: English
Subfield: Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $6,990
Funders: National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, European Commission, Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung, Université de Lausanne, National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, National Institute of General Medical Sciences
Awards: Beyond Odor Receptors: Molecular basis of insect olfaction, G1649636312, G1859912551, G2838374822, G5781173330, A New Genetic Expression System to Determine the Odor Tuning of Insect Vector Ionotropic Receptors Sensitive to Human-Derived Odorants, G8690818240, G9000089312, G9000093013, Bloomington Drosophila Stock Center at Indiana University, Transcriptomic and functional analysis of neuronal evolution in insect antennae over multiple timescales
OpenAlex ID: W4415619782