Figure 3.
Pattern of expression of the 86D09-Gal4 line in the leg and in the central nervous system
(A) Confocal image of the front leg of a 86D09-Gal4>UAS-mCD8GFP female; (i) expression (bright green) in the fCHO and the tCHO, scale bar, 100 μm; (ii) expression in 10 cell bodies of the fCHO (bright green; arrowheads) and in their associated neurites that bundle to project upward toward the trochanter and the central nervous system (CNS) and downward toward the cuticle,74 scale bar, 40 μm; (iii) expression in the cell bodies (arrowheads) of the 3 tCHO neurons, as well as in their axons bundling to project toward the leg nerve and the CNS. Scale bar, 40 μm. Light green is autofluorescence from the cuticle.
(B) Confocal image showing axon terminals (green) of 86D09-Gal4>UAS-mCD8GFP neurons in a female brain (top) and ventral nerve cord (VNC) (bottom) labeled by the neuropil marker NC82 (magenta). Top: the processes targeting the anterior side of the brain in the gnathal ganglion (GNG) (arrowheads) resemble descriptions that a few fCHO neurons target directly this region of the brain and pursue anterior-dorsally along the lateral side of the gnathal ganglion (thin arrowheads). These processes are not seen continuing deeper in the brain toward the wedge neuropil (WED) and the ventral-most part of the anterior ventrolateral protocerebrum (AVLP),82 probably due to the fact that only a small subset of neurons is stained in comparison to Tsubouchi et al.;82 GFP is also seen in neuron cell bodies in the optic lobes (OLs) (arrows; they resemble retinal neurons), in a pair of bilateral neurons of the posterior brain in the bulb region (BU) that resemble PBG1-8.b-EBw.s-D/VGA.b ring neurons that respond to visual stimuli,90, 91, 92 and weakly in the ellipsoid body (EB) where ring neurons project (arrow) and which is a central brain region for visual processing.90 Female’s vision is not necessary for her immobility response to the tremulations,8 but we cannot fully exclude that these regions known for visual processing may also be involved in vibratory signal processing. Bottom: two thin sets of axon projection bundles (arrowheads in first ganglion) enter each thoracic ganglion and bundle together toward the midline of the VNC. The bundles present the club shape typical of club neurons of the fCHO (arrowheads in second and third ganglia).75,82,83 Scale bars, 100 μm.
(C) The number of cell bodies labeled with GFP was counted in the femoral and tibial chordotonal organs of females carrying the constructs 86D09-Gal4>UAS-mCD8GFP (5/6 legs among the first pair of legs).