Drosophila glia take shape to sculpt the nervous system

The importance of glial cells has become increasingly apparent over the past 20 years, yet compared to neurons we still know relatively little about these essential cells. Most crit-ical glial cell functions are conserved in Drosophila glia, often using the same key molecular players as their vertebrate counterparts. The relative simplicity of the Drosophila nervous system, combined with a vast array of powerful genetic tools, allows us to further dissect the molecular composition and functional roles of glia in ways that would be much more cumbersome or not possible in higher vertebrate systems. Importantly, Drosophila genetics allow for in vivo manipulation, and their transparent body wall enables in vivo imaging of glia in intact animals throughout early development. Here we discuss recent advances in Drosophila glial development de-tailing how these cells take on their mature morphologies and interact with neurons to perform their important functional roles in the nervous system.

Automated summary

The importance of glial cells has gained recognition in the past 20 years, but our knowledge about these cells is still limited compared to neurons. Drosophila glia share similar molecular players and functions with their vertebrate counterparts, making them suitable models to study glial composition and roles. Drosophila genetics and in vivo imaging techniques provide valuable tools to investigate glial development and their interactions with neurons.