My lab is interested in the basic mechanisms that control neural development. Our approach is to follow a single neuron from birth until synapse formation. Our studies are conducted in the embryos of both grasshoppers and fruit flies taking advantage of the various experimental advantages of each system. These studies concentrate on one serotonergic interneuron whose development, we believe, parallels that of vertebrate serotonergic neurons.
Regulated tension determines axonal arbor pattern.
Cell fate decisions in the CNS of the grasshopper. The grasshopper median neuroblast is a pluripotent progenitor cell that generates glia and neurons in distinct phases. Neuronal cell bodies as well as axon tracts can be seen. Much of the insect central nervous system consists of a chain of these segmental ganglia. This embryo is just over a third of its way through development and only a relatively small number of neurons form in each segment.