ArticlePLoS biology2023
A Drosophila glial cell atlas reveals a mismatch between transcriptional and morphological diversity.
Article in PLoS biology, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers.
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Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed, 23 citations in OpenAlex.
- A developmental single-cell atlas of the Drosophila visual system glia reveals cell type diversification and subcellular mRNA compartmentalization.PLoS biology · 2026Article
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- Written in the Stars: Astrocyte Biology From Evolution to Disease.Acta physiologica (Oxford, England) · 2026Review
- Light- and temperature-sensitive seizures are regulated by spatially distinct cortex glial populations in the central nervous system.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
- Evolution of compound eye cell types shapes visual behaviors acrossbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Modern Mining: The Role of Single-cell RNA Sequencing in Advancing Neuroscience Research.BioEssays : news and reviews in molecular, cellular and developmental biology · 2026Review
- Multi-omic mapping of Drosophila protein secretomes reveals tissue-specific origins and inter-organ trafficking.Nature communications · 2026Article
- A genetic strategy for targeting local astrocytes in adult Drosophila.Cell reports methods · 2026Article
- Regulating glial morphogenesis: insights fromFrontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2026Review
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- Transcriptional complexity in the insect central complex: single nuclei RNA-sequencing of adult brain neurons derived from type 2 neuroblasts.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Molecular profiling of invertebrate glia.Glia · 2025Review
- Cell-specific genetic expression profile of antennal glia in Drosophila reveals candidate genes in neuron-glia interactions.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- CaActa physiologica (Oxford, England) · 2025Article
- A carnitine transporter at the blood-brain barrier modulates sleep via glial lipid metabolism inProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- Synthetic control removes spurious discoveries from double dipping in single-cell and spatial transcriptomics data analyses.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2024Article
- Glial Regulation of Circuit Wiring, Firing, and Expiring in theCold Spring Harbor perspectives in biology · 2024Review
- Neurogenesis in Caenorhabditis elegans.Genetics · 2024Review
- Article
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Morphology is a defining feature of neuronal identity. Like neurons, glia display diverse morphologies, both across and within glial classes, but are also known to be morphologically plastic. Here, we explored the relationship between glial morphology and transcriptional signature using the Drosophila central nervous system (CNS), where glia are categorised into 5 main classes (outer and inner surface glia, cortex glia, ensheathing glia, and astrocytes), which show within-class morphological diversity. We analysed and validated single-cell RNA sequencing data of Drosophila glia in 2 well-characterised tissues from distinct developmental stages, containing distinct circuit types: the embryonic ventral nerve cord (VNC) (motor) and the adult optic lobes (sensory). Our analysis identified a new morphologically and transcriptionally distinct surface glial population in the VNC. However, many glial morphological categories could not be distinguished transcriptionally, and indeed, embryonic and adult astrocytes were transcriptionally analogous despite differences in developmental stage and circuit type. While we did detect extensive within-class transcriptomic diversity for optic lobe glia, this could be explained entirely by glial residence in the most superficial neuropil (lamina) and an associated enrichment for immune-related gene expression. In summary, we generated a single-cell transcriptomic atlas of glia in Drosophila, and our extensive in vivo validation revealed that glia exhibit more diversity at the morphological level than was detectable at the transcriptional level. This atlas will serve as a resource for the community to probe glial diversity and function.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.