foxQ2 marks fast-acting interneurons including dopaminergic neurons of mushroom bodies and central complex in the beetle Tribolium castaneum

Abstract

Abstract The brain is one of the most complex animal organs and the development of the many different neuron types remains enigmatic. A set of brain-specific transcription factors is involved in brain patterning but their specific contributions mostly remain to be elucidated, including foxQ2II . This transcription factor is conserved in anterior neuroectodermal patterning of most animals while it has been lost from vertebrates. The contribution of foxQ2II -positive neurons to the adult brain has remained enigmatic. Here, we use our enhancer trap, immunostainings and our newly established beetle brainbow system to categorize Tc-foxQ2II -positive neurons into nine clusters with different projection patterns. All clusters contain neurons with the fast-activating neurotransmitters acetylcholine and glutamate while no Tc-foxQ2II positive neuron is GABA-ergic or serotonin-positive. Interestingly, we found that many dopaminergic neurons were Tc-foxQ2II positive and we homologize them with dopaminergic neurons of the PPL2c, PPM1 and PPL1 cluster described in the Drosophila brain. Our results show that Tc-foxQ2II marks subsets of fast-acting interneurons contributing to the higher order brain centers mushroom bodies and central complex . Taken together, our work expands the known functional range of foxQ2 genes from sensory and neurosecretory cell specification to interneurons involved in the function of higher order brain centers.

The authors' abstract, as published at the source. eLife, 2026 · DOI ↗