Neuroscience in the fly and beyond is being transformed by the availability of connectomes, synaptic resolution wiring diagrams. We have played leading roles in two large collaborations that have recently generated and analysed separate (female) brain and (male) nerve cord connectomes for the fly. Furthermore, we have now completed a male CNS connectome (brain and nerve cord together). This is enabling comparative connectomics, allowing us to identify sex differences across the brain.
We are now expanding this comparative work to understand brain evolution across species including other Drosophilids and the yellow fever mosquito, Aedes. In D. melanogaster, we are also developing new approaches to overlay molecular information about neurons onto the connectome using computational and experimental approaches including deep single cell transcriptomics and expansion microscopy.
Together, these resources offer rich opportunities to understand the circuit basis of behaviour. We are investigating the circuit logic of innate behaviours, especially sexually dimorphic behaviours dependent on pheromones. We are also interested in how learned behaviours interact with and modify innate behavioural responses. Finally, we are following the transformations from sensory input, multimodal integration to descending control of motor behaviour.
We have active projects in each of these areas and many new avenues are opening up. We encourage any student fascinated by the synaptic, neuronal and network basis of behaviour to apply. This includes not just biologists and neuroscientists but also computer scientists, engineers and physicists.
Relevant Reading
Sexual dimorphism in the complete Drosophila male central nervous system connectomeBerg S, Beckett IR, Costa M, Schlegel P, Januszewski M, Marin EC, Nern A, Preibisch S, Qiu W, Takemura S, Fragniere AMC, Champion AS, Adjavon DY, Cook M, Gkantia M, Hayworth KJ, Huang GB, Katz WT, Kämpf F, Lu Z, Ordish C, Paterson T, Stürner T, Trautman ET, Whittle CR, Burnett LE, Hoeller J, Li F, Loesche F, Morris BJ, Pietzsch T, Pleijzier MW, Silva V, Yin Y, Ali I, Badalamente G, Bates AS, Beresford RJ, Bogovic J, Brooks P, Cachero S, Canino BS, Chaisrisawatsuk B, Clements J, Crowe A, de Haan Vicente I, Dempsey G, Donà E, Dos Santos M, Dreher M, Dunne CR, Eichler K, Finley-May S, Flynn MA, Hameed I, Hopkins GP, Hubbard PM, Kiassat L, Kovalyak J, Lauchie SA, Leonard M, Lohff A, Longden KD, Maldonado CA, Moitra I, Moon SS, Mooney C, Munnelly EJ, Okeoma N, Olbris DJ, Pai A, Patel B, Phillips EM, Plaza SM, Richards A, Rivas Salinas J, Roberts RJV, Rogers EM, Scott AL, Scuderi LA, Seenivasan P, Serratosa Capdevila L, Smith C, Svirskas R, Takemura S, Tastekin I, Thomson A, Umayam L, Walsh JJ, Whittome H, Xu CS, Yakal EA, Yang T, Zhao A, George R, Jain V, Jayaraman V, Korff W, Meissner GW, Romani S, Funke J, Knecht C, Saalfeld S, Scheffer LK, Waddell S, Card GM, Ribeiro C, Reiser MB, Hess HF, Rubin GM, Jefferis GSXECell 189(18): 5504-5526.e15 (2026)
Whole-brain annotation and multi-connectome cell typing of DrosophilaSchlegel P, Yin Y, Bates AS, Dorkenwald S, Eichler K, Brooks P, Han DS, Gkantia M, dos Santos M, Munnelly EJ, Badalamente G, Serratosa Capdevila L, Sane VA, Fragniere AMC, Kiassat L, Pleijzier MW, Stürner T, Tamimi IFM, Dunne CR, Salgarella I, Javier A, Fang S, Perlman E, Kazimiers T, Jagannathan SR, Matsliah A, Sterling AR, Yu S, McKellar CE, Kruk K, Bland D, Lenizo Z, Burke AT, Willie KP, Bates AS, Serafetinidis N, Hadjerol N, Willie R, Silverman B, Ocho JA, Bañez J, Candilada RA, Gager J, Kristiansen A, Panes N, Yadav A, Tancontian R, Serona S, Dolorosa JI, Vinson KJ, Garner D, Salem R, Dagohoy A, Skelton J, Lopez M, Stocks T, Pandey A, Akiatan DJ, Hebditch J, David C, Sapkal D, Monungolh SM, Sane V, Pielago ML, Albero M, Laude J, dos Santos M, Deutsch D, Vohra Z, Wang K, Gogo AM, Kind E, Mandahay AJ, Martinez C, Asis JD, Nair C, Patel D, Manaytay M, Lim CA, Ampo PL, Pantujan MD, Bautista D, Rana R, Seguido J, Parmar B, Saguimpa JC, Moore M, Pleijzier MW, Larson M, Hsu J, Joshi I, Kakadiya D, Braun A, Pilapil C, Parmar K, Vanderbeck Q, Dunne C, Munnelly E, Kang CH, Lörsch L, Lee J, Kmecova L, Sancer G, Baker C, Joroff J, Calle S, Patel Y, Sato O, Salocot J, Salman F, Molina-Obando S, Bui M, Lichtenberger M, Tamboboy E, Molloy K, Santana-Cruz AE, Hernandez A, Yu S, Sorek M, Diwan A, Patel M, Aiken TR, Morejohn S, Koskela S, Yang T, Lehmann D, Chojetzki J, Sisodiya S, Koolman S, Shiu PK, Cho S, Bast A, Reicher B, Blanquart M, Houghton L, Choi H, Ioannidou M, Collie M, Eckhardt J, Gorko B, Guo L, Zheng Z, Poh A, Lin M, Taisz I, Murfin W, Díez S, Reinhard N, Gibb P, Patel N, Kumar S, Yun M, Wang M, Jones D, Encarnacion-Rivera L, Oswald A, Jadia A, Erginkaya M, Drummond N, Walter L, Tastekin I, Zhong X, Mabuchi Y, Figueroa Santiago FJ, Verma U, Byrne N, Kunze E, Crahan T, Margossian R, Kim H, Georgiev I, Szorenyi F, Adachi A, Bargeron B, Stürner T, Demarest D, Gür B, Becker AN, Turnbull R, Morren A, Sandoval A, Moreno-Sanchez A, Pacheco DA, Samara E, Croke H, Thomson A, Laughland C, Dutta SB, de Antón PGA, Huang B, Pujols P, Haber I, González-Segarra A, Lin A, Choe DT, Lukyanova V, Mancini N, Liu Z, Okubo T, Flynn MA, Vitelli G, Laturney M, Li F, Cao S, Manyari-Diaz C, Yim H, Duc Le A, Maier K, Yu S, Nam Y, Bąba D, Abusaif A, Francis A, Gayk J, Huntress SS, Barajas R, Kim M, Cui X, Sterling AR, Sterne GR, Li A, Park K, Dempsey G, Mathew A, Kim J, Kim T, Wu G, Dhawan S, Brotas M, Zhang C, Bailey S, Del Toro A, Lee K, Macrina T, Schneider-Mizell C, Popovych S, Ogedengbe O, Yang R, Halageri A, Silversmith W, Gerhard S, Champion A, Eckstein N, Ih D, Kemnitz N, Castro M, Jia Z, Wu J, Mitchell E, Nehoran B, Mu S, Bae JA, Lu R, Morey R, Kuehner K, Brittain D, Jordan CS, Anderson DJ, Behnia R, Bidaye SS, Borst A, Chiappe E, Collman F, Colodner KJ, Dacks A, Dickson B, Funke J, Garcia D, Hampel S, Hartenstein V, Hassan B, Helfrich-Forster C, Huetteroth W, Kim J, Kim SS, Kim YJ, Kwon JY, Lee WC, Linneweber GA, Maimon G, Mann R, Noselli S, Pankratz M, Prieto-Godino L, Read J, Reiser M, von Reyn K, Ribeiro C, Scott K, Seeds AM, Selcho M, Silies M, Simpson J, Waddell S, Wernet MF, Wilson RI, Wolf FW, Yao Z, Yapici N, Zandawala M, Costa M, Seung HS, Murthy M, Hartenstein V, Bock DD, Jefferis GSXENature 634(8032): 139-152 (2024)
Neurotransmitter classification from electron microscopy images at synaptic sites in Drosophila melanogasterEckstein N, Bates AS, Champion A, Du M, Yin Y, Schlegel P, Lu AKY, Rymer T, Finley-May S, Paterson T, Parekh R, Dorkenwald S, Matsliah A, Yu SC, McKellar C, Sterling A, Eichler K, Costa M, Seung S, Murthy M, Hartenstein V, Jefferis GSXE, Funke JCell 187(10): 2574-2594.e23 (2024)
Generating parallel representations of position and identity in the olfactory systemTaisz I, Donà E, Münch D, Bailey SN, Morris BJ, Meechan KI, Stevens KM, Varela-Martínez I, Gkantia M, Schlegel P, Ribeiro C, Jefferis GSXE, Galili DSCell 186(12): 2556-2573.e22 (2023)
Communication from Learned to Innate Olfactory Processing Centers Is Required for Memory Retrieval in DrosophilaDolan MJ, Belliart-Guérin G, Bates AS, Frechter S, Lampin-Saint-Amaux A, Aso Y, Roberts RJV, Schlegel P, Wong A, Hammad A, Bock D, Rubin GM, Preat T, Plaçais PY, Jefferis GSXENeuron 100(3): 651-668.e8 (2018)
