Semester

Summer

Date of Graduation

2022

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Type

MS

College

Eberly College of Arts and Sciences

Department

Biology

Committee Chair

Andrew Dacks

Committee Co-Chair

Kevin Daly

Committee Member

Eric Horstick

Abstract

Neuromodulation allows neurons within a circuit to respond to stimuli from the environment according to the correct ecological value, context, and internal state of the animal. Serotonin (5-HT) is a neuromodulator that can generate different outcomes based on its target’s serotonin receptor (5-HTR) expression by affecting secondary messenger cascades. Within the Drosophila olfactory system, ventral projections neurons (vPN) express all five insect 5-HTR that project into two olfactory processing regions, the antennal lobe (AL) and the lateral horn (LH). The significance of this 5-HTR expression is unknown. In this study, I theorized the patterns of 5-HTR expression of vPNs. I took advantage of two transgenic approaches, one that enabled me to use flourophores to observe two populations of vPNs and determine co-expression patterns while another that allows me to stochastically express individual vPNs that express a given 5-HTR. I categorized the vPN population into two types, the excitatory ventral projections (e-VPN) which respond to both attractive and aversive glomeruli, and inhibitory ventral projection neurons (i-vPN) which respond to attractive glomeruli. Through these approaches, I found 5-HTR co-expression in both vPN populations, different innervation patterns of 5-HTR expressing vPNs in both olfactory processes, and two populations of i-vPN neurons that express distinct 5-HTR expression and morphology patterns. This study helps us understand 5-HT modulation of a diverse 5-HTR population and lays a foundation to study the functional and behavioral roles of i-vPN subpopulations in odor-guided behavior.

Embargo Reason

Publication Pending

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