@article{HurdGruebelWojciechowskietal.2021,
  author    = {Hurd, Paul J. and Gr{\"u}bel, Kornelia and Wojciechowski, Marek and Maleszka, Ryszard and R{\"o}ssler, Wolfgang},
  title     = {Novel structure in the nuclei of honey bee brain neurons revealed by immunostaining},
  series = {Scientific Reports},
  volume    = {11},
  journal   = {Scientific Reports},
  doi       = {10.1038/s41598-021-86078-5},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-260059},
  pages     = {6852},
  year      = {2021},
  abstract  = {In the course of a screen designed to produce antibodies (ABs) with affinity to proteins in the honey bee brain we found an interesting AB that detects a highly specific epitope predominantly in the nuclei of Kenyon cells (KCs). The observed staining pattern is unique, and its unfamiliarity indicates a novel previously unseen nuclear structure that does not colocalize with the cytoskeletal protein f-actin. A single rod-like assembly, 3.7-4.1 mu m long, is present in each nucleus of KCs in adult brains of worker bees and drones with the strongest immuno-labelling found in foraging bees. In brains of young queens, the labelling is more sporadic, and the rod-like structure appears to be shorter (similar to 2.1 mu m). No immunostaining is detectable in worker larvae. In pupal stage 5 during a peak of brain development only some occasional staining was identified. Although the cellular function of this unexpected structure has not been determined, the unusual distinctiveness of the revealed pattern suggests an unknown and potentially important protein assembly. One possibility is that this nuclear assembly is part of the KCs plasticity underlying the brain maturation in adult honey bees. Because no labelling with this AB is detectable in brains of the fly Drosophila melanogaster and the ant Camponotus floridanus, we tentatively named this antibody AmBNSab (Apis mellifera Brain Neurons Specific antibody). Here we report our results to make them accessible to a broader community and invite further research to unravel the biological role of this curious nuclear structure in the honey bee central brain.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{BeetzKrauselJundi2023,
  author    = {Beetz, M. Jerome and Kraus, Christian and el Jundi, Basil},
  title     = {Neural representation of goal direction in the monarch butterfly brain},
  series = {Nature Communications},
  volume    = {14},
  journal   = {Nature Communications},
  doi       = {10.1038/s41467-023-41526-w},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-358073},
  year      = {2023},
  abstract  = {Neural processing of a desired moving direction requires the continuous comparison between the current heading and the goal direction. While the neural basis underlying the current heading is well-studied, the coding of the goal direction remains unclear in insects. Here, we used tetrode recordings in tethered flying monarch butterflies to unravel how a goal direction is represented in the insect brain. While recording, the butterflies maintained robust goal directions relative to a virtual sun. By resetting their goal directions, we found neurons whose spatial tuning was tightly linked to the goal directions. Importantly, their tuning was unaffected when the butterflies changed their heading after compass perturbations, showing that these neurons specifically encode the goal direction. Overall, we here discovered invertebrate goal-direction neurons that share functional similarities to goal-direction cells reported in mammals. Our results give insights into the evolutionarily conserved principles of goal-directed spatial orientation in animals.},
  language  = {en}
}