Dm6 [FBbt_00003773]

Dm6

ID: FBbt_00003773

Distal medullary wide-field amacrine neuron whose cell body is located in the ventral region of the cell body rind of the medulla. It branches extensively at the distal surface of the medulla forming a broad arbor with each branch making a distinctive bleb-type terminal in the boundary between M1 and M2 layers from which short, fine terminal branches project into M2. The arborization overlaps with both the sublayers occupied by Dm1/Dm18, and Dm14/Dm17/Dm19. The arborizations in M1/M2 are enriched in presynaptic terminals. The arbor varies in shape between cells, covering around 30-40 columns, with these areas overlapping. It is located in a intracolumnar position, in the same region as the terminals of lamina monopolar neuron L2, and more central than that of Dm1 and Dm14. There are around 30 Dm6 neurons per hemisphere.

Pre-synaptic terminals were assessed by labelling with a UAS-Synaptotagmin reporter (P{UAS-HA-syt} - FBtp0015803). The identification of dendrites and axons was done using a UAS-Dscam (P{UAS-Dscam.exon17.1.GFP} - FBtp0021447) or a UAS-tau (P{UAS-tau-lacZ.O} - FBtp0010033) reporter, respectively (Morante and Desplan, 2008).