How the Apterous Protein Affects the Shape of the Adult Fruit Fly's Learning and Memory Center

Apterous (Ap) is essential for the morphology of mushroom body neurons in adult Drosophila, as shown by structural defects in ap knockout flies.

• Adult Drosophila lacking Ap expression exhibit severe structural defects in mushroom body neurons.
• No significant morphological defects are observed in Pdf-positive clock neurons in the same ap knockout flies.
• Ap is indicated to play a specific role in the development of certain neurons in the adult brain, but not universally for all neurons expressing Ap.

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