Abstract
The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster can process chromatic information for true color vision and spectral preference. Spectral information is initially detected by a few distinct photoreceptor channels with different spectral sensitivities and is processed through the visual circuit. The neuroanatomical bases of the circuit are emerging. However, only little information is available in chromatic response properties of higher visual neurons from this important model organism. We used in vivo whole-cell patch-clamp recordings in response to monochromatic light stimuli ranging from 300 to 650 nm with 25-nm steps. We characterized the chromatic response of 33 higher visual neurons, including their general response type and their wavelength tuning. Color-opponent-type responses that had been typically observed in primates and bees were not identified. Instead, the majority of neurons showed excitatory responses to broadband wavelengths. The UV (300–375 nm) and middle wavelength (425–575 nm) ranges could be separated at the population level owing to neurons that preferentially responded to a specific wavelength range. Our results provide a first mapping of chromatic information processing in higher visual neurons of D. melanogaster that is a suitable model for exploring how color-opponent neural mechanisms are implemented in the visual circuits.
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank the members of Yamauchi Laboratory for valuable comments and Ms. Hiromi Usui for technical support. This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Numbers JP25870768, JP18K06342. The authors declare no competing financial interest.
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Supplemental Fig. 1 Examples of full traces in responses to 15 wavelength stimuli for all the recorded neurons (n = 33). Data for each recorded neuron consists of three pages; Traces of light responses to 15 wavelength stimuli (responses to the first round of the stimulus set) is shown in the first page, average membrane potential traces of the responses to repeated stimulus sets is shown in the second page, and average PSTHS in the third page. Data are ordered as excitatory ON–OFF type (1–20), excitatory ON type (1–8), inhibitory type (1–2) and extra type (1–3). For the extra types, all repeated recording traces are shown. (PDF 16922 kb)
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Yonekura, T., Yamauchi, J., Morimoto, T. et al. Spectral response properties of higher visual neurons in Drosophila melanogaster. J Comp Physiol A 206, 217–232 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-019-01391-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-019-01391-9