Cross-species single cell transcriptomics in fly and beetle reveals the genetic core of brain neuroblast specification
The brain is essential for animal survival and based on its conserved Bauplan, an impressive adaptive diversity has evolved. However, the genetic mechanisms regulating brain development and diversification remain enigmatic. The insect neural stem cells (neuroblasts, NBs) acquire different identities through the combinatorial expression of transcription factors (TFs), but this code is unknown for…
Brain development and diversification are subject to genetic mechanisms that are not fully understood. Insect neural stem cells, or neuroblasts (NBs), acquire distinct identities through the coordinated expression of transcription factors (TFs), but the specific code governing this process in the brain remains unknown. To address this, researchers combined single-cell expression analysis from NBs derived from two holometabolous insects, the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster and the beetle Tribolium castaneum.
They established a Gal4 enhancer trap system to identify NBs in Tribolium and sequenced a total of 37,137 and 32,112 NB nuclei from each species, respectively. This analysis identified 10,425 and 12,389 brain NBs in Tribolium and Drosophila, respectively, and increased the sensitivity in specifying 188 brain-specific TFs. The study uncovered two atypical clusters with some resemblance to Type II NBs and identified seven transcription factors not previously linked to NBs, including Hmx, CG15696, CG32532, dmrt99B, fD59A, TfAP-2, and Fer1.
The findings shed light on the fundamental differences between brain and ventral nerve cord specification and open up new avenues for studying the development and evolution of brain-specific structures.
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