Sexually-dimorphic neurons in the Drosophila whole-brain connectome

Sexually-dimorphic neurons in the Drosophila whole-brain connectome | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Biological Sciences - Article Sexually-dimorphic neurons in the Drosophila whole-brain connectome David Deutsch, Arie Matsliah, Kaiyu Wang, Sven Dorkenwald, Arpita Mondal, and 16 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6881911/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Sexual dimorphisms are present across brains. Male and female brains contain sets of cell types with differences in cell number, morphology, or synaptic connectivity between the two sexes. These differences are driven by differentially-expressed transcription factors, which set the stage for disparate sexual and social behaviors observed between males and females, such as courtship, aggression, receptivity, and mating. In the Drosophila brain, sexual dimorphisms result from differential expression of two transcription factors, Fruitless (Fru) and Doublesex (Dsx), and genetic reagents driven by enhancers for Fru and Dsx label sexually-dimorphic neurons in both male and female brains. The recent release of the first whole-brain connectome for Drosophila provides a unique opportunity to study the connectivity between these neurons as well as their integration into the larger brain network. Here, we identify 91 putative Fru or Dsx cell types, comprising ~1400 neurons, within the whole-brain connectome, using morphological similarity between electron microscopic (EM) reconstructions and light microscopic (LM) images of known Fru and Dsx neurons. We discover that while Fru and Dsx neurons are highly interconnected, each cell type typically receives more inputs from and sends more outputs to non-Fru/Dsx neurons. We characterize the connectivity in the Fru/Dsx networks to predict the function of cell types not previously characterized, we measure distances to the sensory periphery and uncover multisensory interactions, and we map connections to descending neurons that drive behavior. All Fru and Dsx labels reported here are shared within FlyWire Codex (codex.flywire.ai; gene==Fruitless or Doublesex); this work is a critical first step towards deciphering the neural basis of sexually-dimorphic behaviors and for making comparisons with future connectomes of the male brain. Biological sciences/Neuroscience/Neural circuits Biological sciences/Neuroscience/Sexual behaviour/Sexual dimorphism Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files Table1FruDsxcells.xlsx Table 1 Table2FlyWirelinks.xlsx Table 2 Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6881911","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Biological Sciences - Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":475942269,"identity":"981a12df-6346-46ad-8030-80ab588860ca","order_by":0,"name":"David 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