The enteric nervous system In this primer, David Linden and Keith Sharkey discuss the development and cellular organization of the enteric nervous system, and its role in controlling gut motility and immune and mucosal function...

Much of study of #brain–body interactions is focus on the #gut–brain axis.

The enteric nervous system is where a lot of this plays out, here a primer 👇
www.cell.com/current-biol...

Sickness and the brain Zuri Sullivan and Catherine Dulac discuss the reciprocal communication between the brain and the immune system in sickness behavior.

This great primer from our #brain–body special by @dulaclab.bsky.social explores the many ways in which the brain and the immune system interact in the diseased state.
🧠
www.cell.com/current-biol...

Visceral signaling of post-ingestive malaise directs memory updating in Drosophila Consolidation is a time when labile memories transition to a stable form. Malaise learning in Drosophila reveals consolidation to also permit memory updating. Flies taught to associate one of two odor...

@senapati.bsky.social latest and greatest! Charly Treiber on board too. Over and out.

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Cross-species implementation of an innate courtship behavior by manipulation of the sex-determinant gene In accepting a courting male, Drosophila subobscura females require nuptial gift giving in which a male gives regurgitated crop contents to her mouth to mouth. No similar behavior is found in D. melan...

doi.org/10.1126/scie...

This seems rad: overexpressing FruM in a set of proboscis-motorneuron-projecting neurons makes melanogaster males add food-sharing to their courtship repertoire.

It is fascinating to see evolutionary shifts in behavior be tied so concretely to shifts in brain development!

This is a manuscript long time coming from our lab. Mainly Work of the first two authors, ably supported by the rest of us. Also a big shoutout to Meet Zandawala, our collaborator. We have presented this at so many forums over the last 3 years. Hope you all enjoy it. Thanks!

Beauveria bassiana was detected within the fly brain. Neurons are stained with DAPI (magenta) and B. bassiana with GFP (green). Left: whole brain view. Middle column: germlings or germinating spores colocalise with the neuronal marker DAPI and (right-hand column) have filaments.

Fungus on the brain. @deepanshund.bsky.social @aliciahidalgolab.bsky.social &co show that the #fungus Beauveria bassiana exploits the Toll-1 host response to activate the MyD88 inhibitor Sarm, enabling immune evasion and triggering #neurodegeneration in #Drosophila 🧪 @plosbiology.org plos.io/3EIxgZN

Expert's Dilemma: the more specialized you become, the less open you are to creative solutions from other fields. But the more you explore other fields, the more you risk losing credibility in your home field.
Interdisciplinary work is still not really embraced by academia.

Velvet ants have the Swiss Army knife of venoms A velvet ant bite like “hot oil from the deep fryer” delivers an array of peptides that inflicts pain on insects and mammals alike.

“Velvet ants are among the most well-defended insects, wielding not just venom, but warning coloration and odor, an extremely tough exoskeleton and long stinger, and the ability to “scream” when provoked.”

#scicomm
#neuroskyence
#pain
#sensoryecology

www.sciencenews.org/article/velv...
🧪 🐝 🐙 🧠

We are pleased to report publication of the Drosophila circadian clock connectome in @naturecomms.bsky.social. Check out the final version for additional analyses not present in the preprint. @unrcabnr.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Today in
@currentbiology.bsky.social: a Quick Guide to the wondrous and fascinating biology of the clonal raider ant:
authors.elsevier.com/a/1kOXg3QW8S...

Until the next one

Now that I am back to work, remembering the year end travels. Shivamogga, Kolkata and Bishnupur.

Someone shared this with me, and I think it's beautiful. That's what I wish for everyone I love and appreciate in this New Year 2025, that your life is filled with an abundance of real luxuries. ❤️

Caspar specifies primordial germ cell count and identity in Drosophila melanogaster During Drosophila primordial germ cells (PGCs) specification, the centrosome and germplasm are subject to regulation, during the maternal zygotic transition, by Caspar/TER94-dependent degradative…

This study investigates the role of Caspar in regulating the number of primordial germ cells that form during Drosophila embryogenesis.

Effects of social isolation are conserved from flies to humans. Built a low cost robust, scalable Drosophila aggression & courtship evaluator. Used supervised Java-based machine learning. Specific dopaminergic neurons regulate aggression. Pavan Agrawal, Kasturba Medical College #EMBOneuropeptides

#Immunology by First release now @science.org

Identification of APCs in the gut that promote Treg differentiation and how tolerance to food antigens is influenced by helminth infection

https://buff.ly/3DjNQ1e

By Maria Canesso, @danmucida.bsky.social , @victora.bsky.social and colleagues.

‘There will be nothing left’: researchers fear collapse of science in Argentina One year into Javier Milei’s presidency, scientists are exiting the country in the face of big budget cuts.

So sad to read this 😢

As someone working in 🇦🇷 for 10+ years I know that Argentine colleagues always had to face difficult and often unpredictable conditions. But the Milei government is dismantling Argentina's scientific system with unprecedented aggression - www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Top: Drosophila muscles show disrupted mitochondrial structures when SLMO is knocked down. Bottom: Immunofluorescence shows that SLMO localizes to mitochondria.

How are #phospholipids transferred within #mitochondria? A study in #Drosophila shows that SLMO transfers phosphatidylserine (PS) from the outer to the inner mitochondrial membrane, where it is converted into PE, so contributing to mitochondrial form & function 🧪 #PLOSBiology plos.io/4iHc9qg

A friend and an awesome mentor. Apply!

🎓 Looking for a new PhD student to investigate the neuronal and molecular basis of learning and memory in #Drosophila!

This is a competitive, but fully funded position. More info here: tinyurl.com/drosobrain 🧠 🪰

Deadline: 8th January 2025

#Neuroskyence
#Memory
#Neuroscience
#Dopamine

Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor Michael Krashes discusses glucagon-like peptide-1 receptors, their physiological role in glucose metabolism and the mode of action of their agonists that are used to treat obesity and were later shown...

Everyone is talking about #Ozempic #Wegovy which are agonists of the GLP-1 receptor. For more about this receptor and its physiological role, see the quickguide by Michael Krashes in our latest issue

www.cell.com/current-biol...