The Unc13A isoform is important for phasic release and olfactory memory formation at mushroom body synapses

Abstract

The cellular analysis of mushroom body (MB)-dependent memory forming processes is far advanced, whereas, the molecular and physiological understanding of their synaptic basis lags behind. Recent analysis of the Drosophila olfactory system showed that Unc13A, a member of the M(Unc13) release factor family, promotes a phasic, high release probability component, while Unc13B supports a slower tonic release component, reflecting their different nanoscopic positioning within individual active zones. We here use STED super-resolution microscopy of MB lobe synapses to show that Unc13A clusters closer to the active zone centre than Unc13B. Unc13A specifically supported phasic transmission and short-term plasticity of Kenyon cell:output neuron synapses, measured by combining electrophysiological recordings of output neurons with optogenetic stimulation. Knockdown of unc13A within Kenyon cells provoked drastic deficits of olfactory aversive short-term and anaesthesia-sensitive middle-term memory. Knockdown of unc13B provoked milder memory deficits. Thus, a low frequency domain transmission component is probably crucial for the proper representation of memory-associated activity patterns, consistent with sparse Kenyon cell activation during memory acquisition and retrieval. Notably, Unc13A/B ratios appeared highly diversified across MB lobes, leaving room for an interplay of activity components in memory encoding and retrieval.

Keywords:

• Mushroom body
• synapse
• short-term plasticity
• sparse coding

Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the assistance of the core facility BioSupramol supported by the DFG.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by grants from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft to S.J.S. (FOR2705 TP5, SFB1315 TP A08).