There is no multicellular animal whose genetics is so well understood as Drosophila melanogaster. An increasing number of biologists have, therefore, turned to the fruitfly in pursuit of such diverse areas as the molecular biology of eukaryotic cells, development and neurobiology. Indeed there are signs that Dro sophila may soon become the most central organism in biqlogy for genetic analysis of complex problems. The papers in this collection were presented at a conference on Development and Behavior of Drosophila held at the Tata Insti tute of Fundamental Research from 19th to 22nd December, 1979. The volume reflects the commonly shared belief of the participants that Drosophila has as much to contribute to biology in the future as it has in the past. We hope it will be of interest not merely to Dro sophilists but to all biologists. We thank Chetan Premani, Anil Gupta, K.S. Krishnan, Veronica Rodrigues, Hemant Chikermane and K. Vijay Raghavan for help with recording and transcription of the proceedings and Vrinda Nabar and K.V. Hareesh for editorial assistance. We thank Samuel Richman, Thomas Schmidt-Glenewinkel and T.R. Venkatesh for their valuable assistance in proofreading the manuscripts, and we also thank Patricia Rank for her excellent effort in the preparation of the final manuscripts. The conference was supported by a grant from Sir Dorabji Tata Trust.

Based on Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory's long-running course, "Drosophila Neurobiology: A Laboratory Manual" offers practical advice to all researchers interested in using "Drosophila" as an experimental model for investigating the nervous system.

The fruitfly Drosophila melanogaster is an ideal model system to study processes of the central nervous system This book provides an overview of some major facets of recent research on Drosophila brain development.

The Drosophila larval neuromuscular junction (NMJ) has become one of the most powerful model systems to ask key neurobiological questions. This synapse is unparalleled by its accessibility, its simplicity, and the ability to manipulate genes important for synapse development and function. Its synapses have properties shared by many organisms including humans. The vast majority of genes that when mutated cause congenital disorders of the nervous system in humans, are present in the fruit fly genome, and fly models of human disorders are available. Thus, this preparation is a powerful tool to understand the normal function of these genes. This book reviews outstanding work by recognized leaders in the fields of Drosophila cellular neurogenetics including developmental neurobiology, mechanisms of synaptic function, and experience dependent changes at synapses. The book also includes step-by-step protocols to study the cellular biology of the NMJ, making it a vital resource for researchers beginning their investigations with this system, for those who are training students and postdoctoral fellows in this area, or simply as a general reference material for neuroscientists and neuroscience professors in general. * Provides a synthesis of the main topics in modern neurogenetics* Includes step-by-step protocols for the use of the Drosophila NMJ system in neurobiology lab research* Offers genetic approaches to study synapse development and function*

Developmental Neuroscience is one of the six core disciplines in Neuroscience, and yet no single volume, non-textbook reference exists on the market that provides researchers with more in-depth, high-level information on developmental neurobiology. Currently, anyone interested in the field at a higher level must sift through review articles published frequently and the more specific handbooks that focus on aspects of development rather than the field as a whole. This reference is the first of its kind to fill this need. It pulls together the relevant articles on the topic from the 10-volume Encyclopedia of Neuroscience (Academic Press, 2008) and serves as an affordable and immediate resource for scientists, postdocs, graduate students with an interest beyond the basic textbook materials on the subject. The first and only comprehensive, single-volume reference for developmental neuroscience that goes beyond the basic textbook information The 93 chapters cover topics ranging from cell fate determination, path finding, synapse generation, neural stem cells, to neurodegeneration and regeneration, carefully selected from the Encyclopedia of Neuroscience by one of the great developmental neuroscientists, Greg Lemke The best researchers in the field provide their conclusions in the context of the latest experimental results