Publications

Selected publications

 
2023
      
Memory phase-specific genes in the Mushroom Bodies identified using CrebB-target DamID
N Sgammeglia, YF Widmer, JC Kaldun, C Fritsch, R Bruggmann, and Sprecher SG
PLoS genetics 19 (6), e1010802


Blimp-1/PRDM1 and Hr3/RORβ specify the blue-sensitive photoreceptor subtype in Drosophila by repressing the hippo pathway
Joseph Bunker, Mhamed Bashir, Sydney Bailey, Pamela Boodram, Alexis Perry, Rory Delaney, Maria Tsachaki, Simon G Sprecher, Erik Nelson, Gerald B Call, Jens Rister

Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology 11, 1058961

Duruz J, Sprecher M, Kaldun JC, Al-Soudy AS, Lischer HEL, van Geest G, Nicholson P, Bruggmann R and Sprecher SG.
Molecular characterization of cell types in the squid Loligo vulgaris
Elife 12, e80670, 2023

The monoaminergic system is a bilaterian innovation
M Goulty, G Botton-Amiot, E Rosato, SG Sprecher, R Feuda
Nature Communications 14 (1), 3284

   
Genome assembly of the acoel flatworm Symsagittifera roscoffensis, a model for research on body plan evolution and photosymbiosis
Pedro Martinez, Kirill Ustyantsev, Mikhail Biryukov, Stijn Mouton, Liza Glasenburg, Simon G Sprecher, Xavier Bailly, Eugene Berezikov

G3 13 (2), jkac336

   
2022
Sprecher M, Sprecher SG, Spadavecchia C
A pilot investigation of the efficacy and safety of magnesium chloride and ethanol as anesthetics in Loligo vulgaris embryos
Frontiers in Physiology, 1880

Sgammeglia N, Sprecher SG.
Interplay between metabolic energy regulation and memory pathways in Drosophila.
Trends Neurosci. 2022 Jul;45(7):539-549. doi: 10.1016/j.tins.2022.04.007


Martinez P, Ballarin L, Ereskovsky AV, Gazave E, Hobmayer B, Manni L, Rottinger E, 
Sprecher SG, Tiozzo S, Varela-Coelho A, Rinkevich B.
Articulating the "stem cell niche" paradigm through the lens of non-model aquatic invertebrates.
BMC Biol. 2022 Jan 20;20(1):23. doi: 10.1186/s12915-022-01230-5.


Sprecher SG.
Neural Cell Type Diversity in Cnidaria.
Front Neurosci. 2022 May 24;16:909400. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2022.909400​

2021

      
Maier GL, Komarov N, Meyenhofer F, Kwon JY, Sprecher SG.
Taste sensing and sugar detection mechanisms in Drosophila larval primary taste center.
Elife. 2021 Dec 3;10:e67844. doi: 10.7554/eLife.67844.


JC Kaldun, SR Lone, AM Humbert Camps, C Fritsch, YF Widmer, JV Stein, STomchick and Sprecher SG
Dopamine, sleep, and neuronal excitability modulate amyloid-β–mediated forgetting in Drosophila

PLoS Biology 19 (10), e3001412

N Komarov, SG Sprecher
The chemosensory system of the Drosophila larva: an overview of current understanding

Fly 16 (1), 1-12

AK Mishra, C Fritsch, R Voutev, RS Mann, SG Sprecher
Homothorax Controls a Binary Rhodopsin Switch in Drosophila Ocelli
PLoS Genetics. 2021 Jul 27;17(7):e1009460.

Chang Zhao, Yves F Widmer, Soeren Diegelmann, Mihai Petrovici, Simon G Sprecher*, Walter Senn*
Predictive olfactory learning in Drosophila
Scientific Reports 2021 Mar 24;11(1):6795
   
Brunet Avalos C and Sprecher SG
Single-Cell Transcriptomic Reveals Dual and Multi-Transmitter Use in Neurons Across Metazoans
Frontiers In Molecular Neuroscience. 2021; 14: 623148.

      
Duruz J, Kaltenrieder C, Ladurner P, Bruggmann R, Martìnez P and Sprecher SG
Acoel single-cell transcriptomics: cell-type analysis of a deep branching bilaterian
Molecular Biology and Evolution 2021 May 4;38(5):1888-1904
 
P Martínez Serra, SG Sprecher
Of circuits and brains. The origin and diversification of neural architectures

Frontiers In Ecology And Evolution, 2020, vol. 8

2020

Asirim E, Maier GL, Humberg TH, Sprecher SG
Circadian and Genetic Modulation of Visually-Guided Navigation in Drosophila Larvae
Scientific Reports 10.1038/s41598-020-59614

Choi J, Yu S, Choi MS, Jang S, Han IJ, Maier GL, Sprecher SG*, Kwon JY.*
Cellular Basis of Bitter-Driven Aversive Behaviors in Drosophila Larva.
eNeuro. 2020 Apr 24;7(2):ENEURO.0510-19.2020
   
2019

de Andres-Bragado L and Sprecher SG.
Mechanisms of vision in the fruit fly.                                                                                  
Curr Opin Insect Sci. 2019 Jun 27;36:25-32. doi: 10.1016

Fritsch C, Bernardo-Garcia FJ, Humberg TH, Mishra AK, Miellet S, Almeida S, Frochaux MV, Deplancke B, Huber A and Sprecher SG.
Multilevel regulation of the glass locus during Drosophila eye development.                  
PLoS Genetics. 2019 Jul 12;15(7):e1008269. doi: 10.1371

Kaldun JC and Sprecher SG.                                                                                       
Initiated by CREB: Resolving Gene Regulatory Programs in Learning and Memory   
Bioessays 2019 Aug;41(8):e1900045. doi: 10.1002

Javier Bernardo-Garcia, Maryam Syed, Gaspar Jekely, Simon G Sprecher     
Glass confers rhabdomeric photoreceptor identity in Drosophila, but not across all metazoans     
EvoDevo 2019 Mar 5;10:4. doi: 10.1186

Gavilán B, Sprecher SG, Hartenstein V, Martinez P.
The digestive system of xenacoelomorphs.
 Cell Tissue Res. 2019 May 16

Hartenstein V, Yuan M, Younossi-Hartenstein A, Karandikar A, Bernardo-Garcia FJ, Sprecher SG, Knust E. 
Serial electron microscopic reconstruction of the drosophila larval eye: Photoreceptors with a rudimentary rhabdomere of microvillar-like processes.
 Developmental Biology. 2019 May 31. pii: S0012-1606(19)30196-4

2018
Widmer YF, Fritsch C, Jungo MM, Almeida S, Egger B, Sprecher SG.
 Multiple neurons encode CrebB dependent appetitive long-term memory in the mushroom body circuit.
eLife. 2018 Oct 22;7. pii: e39196. doi: 10.7554/eLife.39196.

Sánchez-Alcañiz JA, Silbering AF, Croset V, Zappia G, Sivasubramaniam AK, Abuin L, Sahai SY, Münch D, Steck K, Auer TO, Cruchet S, Neagu-Maier GL, Sprecher SG, Ribeiro C, Yapici N, Benton R. 
An expression atlas of variant ionotropic glutamate receptors identifies a molecular basis of carbonation sensing. 
Nature Communications. 2018 Oct 12;9(1):4252. doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-06453-1.
Humberg TH and Sprecher SG                                                                                           
Two Pairs of Drosophila Central Brain Neurons Mediate Larval Navigational Strategies Based on Temporal Light Information Processing                                                     
Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience 2018 Dec.

Brauchle M, Bilican A, Eyer C, Bailly X, Martínez P, Ladurner P, Bruggmann R, Sprecher SG.
Xenacoelomorpha Survey Reveals That All 11 Animal Homeobox Gene Classes Were Present in the First Bilaterians.
Genome Biol Evol. 2018 Sep 1;10(9):2205-2217. doi: 10.1093/gbe/evy170.

de Andres-Bragado L, Mazza C, Senn W  and Sprecher SG
Statistical modelling of navigational decisions based on intensity  versus directionality in Drosophila larval phototaxis
Scientific Reports 2018 Jul 26;8(1):11272. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-29533-0.

Widmer YF, Bilican A, Bruggmann R, Sprecher SG.
Regulators of Long-Term Memory Revealed by Mushroom Body-Specific Gene Expression Profiling in Drosophila melanogaster. 
Genetics. 2018 Jun 20. pii: genetics.301106.2018. doi: 10.1534/genetics.118.301106.

Mishra AK, Bernardo-Garcia FJ, Fritsch C, Egger B and Sprecher SG 
Patterning Mechanisms Diversifying Neuroepithelial Domains of the Drosophila Optic Placode 
PLOS Genetics 2018 Apr 20;14(4):e1007353.

Humberg TH, Bruegger P, Afonso B, Zlatic M, Truman JW, Gershow M, Samuel ADT and Sprecher SG 
Dedicated photoreceptor pathways in Drosophila larvae mediate navigation by processing either spatial or temporal cues 
Nature Communications 2018 Mar 28;9(1):1260.

Perea-Atienza E, Sprecher SG, Martínez P.
Characterization of the bHLH family of transcriptional regulators in the acoel S. roscoffensis and their putative role in neurogenesis.
EvoDevo. 2018 Mar 29;9:8.

Kendroud S, Bohra AA, Kuert PA, Nguyen B, Guillermin O, Sprecher SG, Reichert H, VijayRaghavan K, Hartenstein V.  
Structure and Development of the Subesophageal Zone of the Drosophila Brain. II. Sensory Compartments.     
J Comp Neurol. 2017 Sep 6. doi: 10.1002/cne.24316.

2017

Larderet I, Fritsch P, Gendre N, Neagu-Maier L, Fetter RD, Schneider-Micell CM, Truman JW, Zlatic M, Cardona A, Sprecher SG
Organization of the Drosophila larval visual circuit
eLife 10.7554/eLife.28387

Burkhardt P, Sprecher SG.
Evolutionary origin of synapses and neurons - Bridging the gap.
Bioessays. 2017 Sep 1. doi: 10.1002/bies.201700024

lmeida-Carvalho MJ, Berh D, Braun A, Chen YC, Eichler K, Eschbach C, Fritsch PMJ, Gerber B, Hoyer N, Jiang X, Kleber J, Klämbt C, König C, Louis M, Michels B, Miroschnikow A, Mirth C, Miura D, Niewalda T, Otto N, Paisios E, Pankratz MJ, Petersen M, Ramsperger N, Randel N, Risse B, Saumweber T, Schlegel P, Schleyer M, Soba P, Sprecher SG, Tanimura T, Thum AS, Toshima N, Truman JW, Yarali A, Zlatic M.
The Ol1mpiad: concordance of behavioural faculties of stage 1 and stage 3 Drosophila larvae.  
J Exp Biol. 2017 Jul 1;220(Pt 13):2452-2475. doi: 10.1242/jeb.156646.

Martinez P, Perea-Atienza E, Gavilán B, Fernandez C & Sprecher S (2017).                  
The study of xenacoelomorph nervous systems. Molecular and morphological perspectives.
Invertebrate Zoology 14(1) 

Humberg TH and Sprecher SG                                                                                          
Age- and wavelength-dependency of Drosophila larval phototaxis and behavioral responses to natural lighting conditions 
Front Behav Neurosci, 20 April 2017

Martinez P, Hartenstein V, ; Sprecher, SG
"Xenacoelomorpha Nervous Systems."
In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Neuroscience. Ed. S. Murray Sherman. New York: Oxford University Press,

Bernardo-Garcia FJ, Humberg TH, Fritsch C, Sprecher SG.
Successive requirement of Glass and Hazy for photoreceptor specification and maintenance in Drosophila.         
Fly (Austin). 2017 Apr 3;11(2):112-120. doi: 10.1080/19336934.2016.1244591

2016

van Giesen L, Neagu-Maier GL, Kwon JY, Sprecher SG.
 A microfluidics-based method for measuring neuronal activity in Drosophila chemosensory neurons.             
Nature Protocols 2016 Dec;11(12):2389-2400. doi: 10.1038/nprot.2016.144.

Choi J, van Giesen L, Choi MS, Kang K, Sprecher SG, Kwon JY.
A Pair of Pharyngeal Gustatory Receptor Neurons Regulates Caffeine-Dependent Ingestion in Drosophila Larvae.   
Front Cell Neurosci. 2016 Jul 19;10:181. doi: 10.3389/fncel.2016.00181

Spühler IA, Conley GM, Scheffold F, Sprecher SG.
Super Resolution Imaging of Genetically Labeled Synapses in Drosophila Brain Tissue.    
Front Cell Neurosci. 2016 May 26;10:142. doi: 10.3389/fncel.2016.00142.

Bernardo-Garcia FJ, Fritsch C, Sprecher SG.
The transcription factor Glass links eye field specification with photoreceptor differentiation in Drosophila.
DEVELOPMENT . 2016 Apr 15;143(8):1413-23. doi: 10.1242/dev.128801.

van Giesen L, Hernandez-Nunez L, Delasoie-Baranek S, Colombo M, Renaud P, Bruggmann R, Benton R, Samuel ADT, and  Sprecher SG
Multimodal stimulus coding by a gustatory sensory neuron in Drosophila larvae
Nature Communications, 2016 Feb 11;7:10687. doi: 10.1038/ncomms10687.

Mishra AK, Bargmann BO, Tsachaki M, Fritsch C, Sprecher SG.
Functional genomics identifies regulators of the phototransduction machinery in the Drosophila larval eye and adult ocelli.   
DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY . 2016 Jan 6, S0012-1606(15)30235-9. doi: 10.1016

2015

Guillermin O, Perruchoud B, Sprecher SG and Egger B
Characterization of tll functions during Drosophila optic lobe formation.  
DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY, Sep 15;405(2):202-13.

Bressan JM, Benz M, Oettler J, Heinze J, Hartenstein V, Sprecher SG.                              
A map of brain neuropils and fiber systems in the ant Cardiocondyla obscurior.           
Front Neuroanat. 2015 Feb 4;8:166.

Pauls D, von Essen A, Lyutova R, van Giesen L, Rosner R, Wegner C, Sprecher SG    
Potency of transgenic effectors for neurogenetic manipulations in Drosophila larvae
Genetics, 2015 Jan;199(1):25-37

Klein M, Afonso B, Vonner AJ, Hernandez-Nunez L, Berck M, Tabone CJ, Kane EA, Pieribone VA, Nitabach MN, Cardona A, Zlatic M, Sprecher SG, Gershow M, Garrity PA, Samuel AD                                                                                                                   
Sensory determinants of behavioral dynamics in Drosophila thermotaxis.                      
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2015 Jan 13;112(2):E220-9.

2014

Brauchle M, Hansen S, Caussinus E, Lenard A, Ochoa-Espinosa A, Scholz O, Sprecher SG, Plückthun A and Affolter M.    
Protein interference applications in cellular and developmental biology using            
Biology Open, Nov 21;3(12):1252-61

Diegelmann S. and Sprecher SG.                                                                                        
An epigenetic way to forget those painful memories.                                                    
Trends in Neurosciences, 2014 May;37(5):245-6

2013

Mishra AK, Tsachaki M, Rister J, Ng J, Celik A, Sprecher SG.                                            
Binary Cell Fate Decisions and Fate Transformation in the Drosophila Larval Eye.        
PLoS Genet. 2013 Dec;9(12):e1004027.

Kane EA, Gershow M, Afonso B, Larderet I, Klein M, Carter AR, de Bivort BL, Sprecher SG, Samuel AD.
Sensorimotor structure of Drosophila larva phototaxis.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2013 Sep 16.

De Vaux V, Pfefferli C, Passannante M, Belhaj K, von Essen A, Sprecher SG, Müller F, Wicky C.
The C. elegans LET-418/Mi2 plays a conserved role in lifespan regulation.
AGING CELL. 2013 Jul 1

Egger B, Moraru M, van Giesen L and Sprecher SG.
In vitro imaging of primary neural cell culture from Drosophila.
NATURE PROTOCOLS, 2013 Apr 18;8(5):958-965

Farca Luna A, von Essen AM, Widmer Y and Sprecher SG.    
Light preference assay to study innate and circadian regulated photobehavior in Drosophila larvae.
JoVE, 2013 April 20;(74)

2012

Huser A, Rohwedder A, Apostolopoulou AA, Widmann A, Pfitzenmaier JE, Maiolo EM, Selcho M, Pauls D, von Essen A, Gupta T, Sprecher SG, Birman S, Riemensperger T, Stocker RF, Thum AS.
The serotonergic central nervous system of the Drosophila larva: anatomy and behavioral function.
PLoS One. 2012;7(10):e47518.

Keene AC and Sprecher SG.
Seeing the light: photobehavior in fruit fly larvae,
Trends Neurosci. 2012 Feb;35(2):104-10

Moraru M, Egger B, Bao D. and Sprecher SG.                                                           
Analysis of cell identity, morphology, apoptosis and mitotic activity in a primary neural cell culture system in Drosophila  
NEURAL DEV, 2012, Jun 20;7(1):14

Tsachaki M and Sprecher SG.
Genetic and Developmental mechanisms underlying the formation of the Drosophila compound eye.
DEV DYN, 2012

2011

Vasiliauskas D, Mazzoni EO, Sprecher SG, Brodetskiy K, Johnston Jr RJ, Lidder P, Vogt N, Celik A, Desplan C
Feedback from rhodopsin controls rhodopsin exclusion in Drosophila  photoreceptors.
NATURE. 2011 Oct 9;479(7371):108-12

von Essen AM, Pauls D, Thum AS, Sprecher SG.
Capacity of visual classical conditioning in Drosophila  larvae”.
BEHAV NEUROSCI. 2011 2011 Dec;125(6):921-9.

Sprecher SG, Cardona A, Hartenstein V.
The Drosophila larval visual system: high-resolution analysis of a simple visual network.
DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY 2011 Oct 1;358(1):33-43.

Keene AC, Mazzoni EO, Zhen J, Younger MA, Yamaguchi S, Blau J, Desplan C and Sprecher SG
Distinct visual pathways mediate Drosophila larval light avoidance and circadian clock entrainment.
J NEUROSCI. 2011 Apr 27;31(17):6527-34.

Diaz NN and Sprecher SG    
Photoreceptors: Unconventional ways of seeing.
CURR BIOL.  2011 Jan 11;21 (1):R25-7

Before 2011:

Sprecher SG and Desplan C
Switch of rhodopsin expression in terminally differentiated Drosophila sensory neurons
NATURE, 2008 Jul 24 454 (7203):533-537

Sprecher SG, Pichaud F and Desplan C
Adult and larval photoreceptors use different mechanisms to specify the same Rhodopsin fates
GENES AND DEVELOPMENT 2007 Sep 1;21(17):2182-95.

Sprecher SG, Reichert H and Hartenstein V
Gene expression patterns in primary neuronal clusters of the Drosophila embryonic brain
GENE EXPRESSION  2007 Apr;7(5):584-95

Sprecher SG, Urbach R, Technau GM, Rijli FM, Reichert H, and Hirth F
The columnar gene vnd is required for tritocerebral neuromere formation during embryonic brain development of Drosophila
DEVELOPMENT 133 (21): 4331-9. Nov 2006

Sprecher SG, Hirth F
The dorsoventral patterning gene msh is required for tritocerebral neuromere formation during embryonic brain development of Drosophila


DEV DYN 235 (11):2920-9. Nov 2006
Meier S, Sprecher SG, Reichert H, Hirth F

ventral veins lacking is required for specification of the tritocerebrum in embryonic brain development of Drosophila
MECH DEVELOP 123 (1): 76-83 JAN 2006

Sprecher SG, Müller M, Kammermeier L, Miller D, Kaufman TC, Reichert H, Hirth F
Hox gene cross-regulatory interactions in the embryonic brain of Drosophila
MECH DEVELOP 121 (6): 527-536 JUN 2004

Sprecher SG and  Reichert H
The urbilaterian brain: developmental insights into the evolutionary origin of the brain in insects and vertebrates
ARTHROPOD STRUCT DEV 32 (1): 141-156 AUG 2003

Sprecher SG, Galle S, Reichert H
Substrate specificity and juvenile Faviid predominance of coral colonization at the Maldive Islands following the 1998 bleaching event
CORAL REEFS 22 (2): 130-132 JUL 2003


Books and Chapters:
Louis M, Phillips M, Lopez-Matas M and Sprecher SG.
“Behavioral analysis of navigation behaviros in the Drosophila larva”, chapter in “The making and un-making of neuronal circuits in Drosophila” edited by BA Hassen, Humana Press, Springer, 2012

Sprecher SG
“Drosophila Neural Development” in eLS (electronical library of Science, John Wiley & Sons), 2012

Sprecher SG and Desplan C
Development of the Drosophila eye, from precursor specification to terminal differentiation. Book chapter in: “Animal models for eye research". Elsevier, 2009

Sprecher SG
Evolution of the brain in Urbilateria” Essay in: “Encyclopedic Reference of Neuroscience”,  Springer, 2008
 
    

Publications
Address
University of Fribourg
Departement of Biology
Chemin du Musee 10
1700 Fribourg 
Switzerland
CONNECT WITH US!