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G Corfas

Publications and source records attributed to G Corfas.

23 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1990

Adaptation and fatigue of a mechanosensory neuron in wild-type Drosophila and in memory mutants.

The mechanosensory neuron that innervates the anteronotopleural bristle of Drosophila melanogaster responds with a burst of action potentials to deflection of the bristle towards the body wall. The decay of the firing rate upon sustained deflection is typical of a slowly adapting mechanosensory neuron. Upon repeated monotonous stimulation, the response decreases and the kinetics of adaptation change; the response recovers after rest. This sensory fatigue depends on the duration of the stimuli and the rate of stimulation. Two mutants, rutabaga (rut) and dunce (dnc), which are defective in learning and in the activity of the cAMP cascade, show altered kinetics of sensory fatigue. In rut, which has a reduced cAMP synthesis, the mechanosensory neuron fatigues less rapidly, whereas in dnc, characterized by a reduced cAMP hydrolysis, the neuron fatigues more rapidly than in wild-type flies. The data suggest that the cAMP cascade plays a role in the mechanism of sensory fatigue. Our study shows, for the first time, the effect of memory mutations on functional properties of an identified neuron which subserves a modifiable behavior. The experimental system described here could also be useful for neurogenetic dissection of mechanosensory transduction.

3',5'-Cyclic-AMP Phosphodiesterases↗
PubMed1989

Habituation and dishabituation of a cleaning reflex in normal and mutant Drosophila.

Upon tactile stimulation of its thoracic bristle(s), Drosophila cleans with a patterned set of leg movements the field covered by the stimulated bristles. We demonstrate that this cleaning reflex undergoes habituation and dishabituation. Repeated monotonous stimulation of the bristles by controlled air puffs leads to decrement, and finally to disappearance, of leg response. Spontaneous recovery of the response takes place in a time-dependent manner. Restoration of response can also be obtained by application of a high-frequency stimulus directed to other bristles. A mutant, rut, which is defective in learning and in adenylate cyclase activity, can habituate and dishabituate, but habituation is abnormally short-lived. As opposed to both nonassociative and associative learning paradigms used in Drosophila to date, the cleaning reflex lends itself to some aspects of cellular analysis, since single sensory neurons that mediate the input and motor neurons that mediate the behavioral output are identifiable. The modified reflex should therefore be useful in establishing the effects of single gene mutations that affect behavioral plasticity on the development and properties of identified neurons that contribute to discrete modifiable behaviors.

Animals↗
PubMed1988

What is the possible contribution of Ca2+-stimulated adenylate cyclase to acquisition, consolidation and retention of an associative olfactory memory in Drosophila.

We have quantitatively analyzed the effect of the mutation rut, which lesions a Ca2+-stimulated subpopulation (or functional state) of adenylate cyclase, on acquisition, consolidation and retention of an olfactory associative memory in Drosophila. The classical conditioning paradigm developed by Tully and Quinn (1985) was employed. Our data indicate that rut reduces acquisition and short-term memory in this paradigm, yet does not abolish consolidation of residual memory into an anesthesia-resistant form. Assuming that the rut behavioral defect is not due to altered neuroanatomy, the data also suggest that the adenylate cyclase activity lesioned by rut is only one of the molecular processes required for acquisition and short-term memory. These different postulated processes seem to act in parallel but are probably recruited sequentially; the mechanism involving rut+ gene product is necessary for response prior to other mechanisms which do not require rut+. It is also suggested, on the basis of the present results combined with previous data, that processes which do not require Ca2+-activated cyclase can not fulfill the partial role of this enzyme during acquisition but can partially compensate for its absence in later phases of memory formation.

Adenylyl Cyclases↗