Bantam regulates the axonal geometry of Drosophila larval brain by modulating actin regulator enabled.

During development, axonogenesis, an integral part of neurogenesis, is based on well-concerted events comprising generation, rearrangement, migration, elongation, and adhesion of neurons. Actin, specifically the crosstalk between the guardians of actin polymerization, like enabled, chickadee, capping protein plays an essential role in crafting several events of axonogenesis. Recent evidences reflect multifaceted role of microRNA during axonogenesis. Here, we investigated the role of bantam miRNA, a well-established miRNA in Drosophila, in regulating the actin organization during brain development. Our immunofluorescence studies showed altered arrangement of neurons and actin filaments whereas both qPCR and western blot revealed elevated expression of enabled, one of the actin modulators in bantam mutant background. Collectively, our results clearly demonstrate that bantam plays an instrumental role in shaping the axon architecture regulating the actin geometry through its modulator enabled.