Dm8a [FBbt_00013774]

Dm8a

ID: FBbt_00013774

Glutamatergic (Gao et al., 2008; Karuppudurai et al., 2014) distal medullary amacrine neuron that branches extensively in medulla layer M6A (Fischbach and Dittrich, 1989; Takemura et al., 2013; Nern et al., 2015), spanning approximately 16 medulla columns (Karuppudurai et al., 2014), with centrifugal projections back to layer M4 (Takemura et al., 2013; Nern et al., 2015). The highest arbor density and longest distal projection are usually found in one optic column (its 'home column'), near the center of the M6A arborization, with these columns tiling between different individual Dm8 cells, while the rest of the arbor overlaps with other Dm8 cells considerably (Gao et al., 2008; Nern et al., 2015; Kind et al., 2021). In layer M6, it is postsynaptic to several R7 photoreceptor cells and presynaptic to Tm5c (Gao et al., 2008; Takemura et al., 2013; Karuppudurai et al., 2014). The contacts with Tm5c are clustered in one column at the center of the dendritic field of Dm8 (Karuppudurai et al., 2014). It is involved in UV preference (Gao et al., 2008).

Connectivity inferred from EM reconstructions from a single EM section. The neurotransmitter was assessed in cells labelled with a glutamate GAL4 driver P\{GawB}vGlut[OK371] (FBti0076967) (Gao et al., 2008), RT-PCR and by immunohistochemistry (Karuppudurai et al., 2014). Connectivity with R7 was assessed by EM reconstruction of a single medulla column (Gao et al., 2008) or reconstruction of serial-section TEM (Takemura et al., 2013).