Peer-reviewedCC BYCell
Sexual dimorphism in the complete Drosophila male central nervous system connectome
12 affiliations
- 1Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA 20147, USA; Janelia FlyEM Project Team, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA 20147, USA. Electronic address: [email protected]
- 2Neurobiology Division, Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge CB2 0QH, UK
- 3Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB3 3EJ, UK
- 4Neurobiology Division, Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge CB2 0QH, UK; Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB3 3EJ, UK
- 5Google Research, Google LLC, 8004 Zürich, Switzerland
- 6Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA 20147, USA
- 7Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA 20147, USA; Janelia FlyEM Project Team, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA 20147, USA
- 8Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3SR, UK
- 9Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EG, UK
- 10Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3SR, UK; Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
- 11Champalimaud Foundation, 1400-038 Lisbon, Portugal
- 12Institute of Neuroscience, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), 20854 Vedano al Lambro, MB, Italy; Neurobiology Division, Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge CB2 0QH, UK
Abstract
Sex differences in behavior exist across all animals, typically under strong genetic regulation. In Drosophila, fruitless/doublesex transcription factors identify dimorphic neurons, but their organization into functional circuits remains unclear. We present the connectome of the entire Drosophila male central nervous system. This contains 166,700 neurons spanning the brain and nerve cord, fully proofread and annotated, including fruitless/doublesex expression and 11,710 neuron types. We provide the first comprehensive comparison between male and female brain connectomes to synaptic resolution, finding 8,069 isomorphic, 138 dimorphic, 289 male-specific, and 71 female-specific types. This resource enables analysis of full sensory-to-motor circuits underlying complex behaviors and the impact of dimorphic elements. Sex-specific/dimorphic neurons are concentrated in higher brain centers, while the sensory and motor periphery is largely isomorphic. Within higher centers, male-specific connections are organized into hotspots defined by male-specific neurons or arbors. Dimorphic neurons reroute information across sexes.
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BibTeX
@article{berg2026sexual,
title = {{Sexual dimorphism in the complete Drosophila male central nervous system connectome}},
author = {Stuart Berg and Isabella R. Beckett and Marta Costa and Schlegel Philipp and Michał Januszewski and Elizabeth C. Marin and Aljoscha Nern and Stephan Preibisch and Wei Qiu and Shin-ya Takemura and Alexandra M. C. Fragniere and Andrew S Champion and Diane-Yayra Adjavon and Michael Cook and Marina Gkantia and Kenneth J. Hayworth and Gary B. Huang and William T. Katz and Florian Kämpf and Zhiyuan Lu and Christopher Ordish and Tyler Paterson and Tomke Stürner and Eric T. Trautman and Catherine R. Whittle and Laura E. Burnett and Judith Hoeller and Feng Li and Frank Loesche and Billy J Morris and Tobias Pietzsch and Markus William Pleijzier and Valeria Silva and Yijie Yin and Iris Ali and Griffin S. Badalamente and Alexander Shakeel Bates and Rory J. Beresford and John Bogovic and Paul Brooks and Sebastian Cachero and Brandon S Canino and Bhumpanya Chaisrisawatsuk and Jody Clements and Arthur Crowe and Ines de Haan Vicente and Georgia Dempsey and Erika Doná and Marcia dos Santos and Marisa Dreher and Christopher R Dunne and Katharina Eichler and Samantha Finley-May and Miriam A Flynn and Imran Hameed and Gary Patrick Hopkins and Philip M. Hubbard and Ladann Kiassat and Julie Kovalyak and Shirley A Lauchie},
journal = {Cell},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.1016/j.cell.2026.08.015},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2026.08.015},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Sexual dimorphism in the complete Drosophila male central nervous system connectome
AU - Stuart Berg
AU - Isabella R. Beckett
AU - Marta Costa
AU - Schlegel Philipp
AU - Michał Januszewski
AU - Elizabeth C. Marin
AU - Aljoscha Nern
AU - Stephan Preibisch
AU - Wei Qiu
AU - Shin-ya Takemura
AU - Alexandra M. C. Fragniere
AU - Andrew S Champion
AU - Diane-Yayra Adjavon
AU - Michael Cook
AU - Marina Gkantia
AU - Kenneth J. Hayworth
AU - Gary B. Huang
AU - William T. Katz
AU - Florian Kämpf
AU - Zhiyuan Lu
AU - Christopher Ordish
AU - Tyler Paterson
AU - Tomke Stürner
AU - Eric T. Trautman
AU - Catherine R. Whittle
AU - Laura E. Burnett
AU - Judith Hoeller
AU - Feng Li
AU - Frank Loesche
AU - Billy J Morris
AU - Tobias Pietzsch
AU - Markus William Pleijzier
AU - Valeria Silva
AU - Yijie Yin
AU - Iris Ali
AU - Griffin S. Badalamente
AU - Alexander Shakeel Bates
AU - Rory J. Beresford
AU - John Bogovic
AU - Paul Brooks
AU - Sebastian Cachero
AU - Brandon S Canino
AU - Bhumpanya Chaisrisawatsuk
AU - Jody Clements
AU - Arthur Crowe
AU - Ines de Haan Vicente
AU - Georgia Dempsey
AU - Erika Doná
AU - Marcia dos Santos
AU - Marisa Dreher
AU - Christopher R Dunne
AU - Katharina Eichler
AU - Samantha Finley-May
AU - Miriam A Flynn
AU - Imran Hameed
AU - Gary Patrick Hopkins
AU - Philip M. Hubbard
AU - Ladann Kiassat
AU - Julie Kovalyak
AU - Shirley A Lauchie
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/01
JO - Cell
DO - 10.1016/j.cell.2026.08.015
UR - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2026.08.015
AB - Sex differences in behavior exist across all animals, typically under strong genetic regulation. In Drosophila, fruitless/doublesex transcription factors identify dimorphic neurons, but their organization into functional circuits remains unclear. We present the connectome of the entire Drosophila male central nervous system. This contains 166,700 neurons spanning the brain and nerve cord, fully proofread and annotated, including fruitless/doublesex expression and 11,710 neuron types. We provide the first comprehensive comparison between male and female brain connectomes to synaptic resolution, finding 8,069 isomorphic, 138 dimorphic, 289 male-specific, and 71 female-specific types. This resource enables analysis of full sensory-to-motor circuits underlying complex behaviors and the impact of dimorphic elements. Sex-specific/dimorphic neurons are concentrated in higher brain centers, while the sensory and motor periphery is largely isomorphic. Within higher centers, male-specific connections are organized into hotspots defined by male-specific neurons or arbors. Dimorphic neurons reroute information across sexes.
SN - 0092-8674
SN - 1097-4172
ER -