抄録
Offer Organization: Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, System Name: Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research, Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C), Fund Type: competitive_research_funding, Overall Grant Amount: - (direct: 4100000, indirect: 1230000)
Axial motion, which is generated by propagation of muscular contractions along the length of the body, is commonly seen in animal movements (e.g., swimming, crawling and multi-leg walking). Axial motion is regulated by neural circuits that include local circuits within each neuromere as well as intersegmental connections between them. Intersegmental connections are believed to be particularly important for the generation of coherent movements along the body axis. However, circuit mechanisms underlying intersegmental coordination are poorly understood. We use Drosophila larval crawling as a model to study axial locomotion. The behavior is generated by propagation of local muscle contractions from the posterior to anterior segments. We identified a class of local interneurons, termed period-positive median segmental interneurons (PMSIs) and pre-PMSI1,2 as key factors for larval locomotion.