Abdominal-B Neurons Control Drosophila Virgin Female Receptivity

Bussell, Jennifer J.; Yapici, Nilay; Zhang, Stephen X.; Dickson, Barry J.; Vosshall, Leslie B.

doi:10.1016/j.cub.2014.06.011

Cited by 93 publications

(99 citation statements)

References 47 publications

(64 reference statements)

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“…Immature virgins, on the other hand, do not extrude the ovipositor. This observation is in agreement with what was previously observed10 and sets the apterous -silenced female phenotype apart from immature virgin behaviour.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 93%

apterous Brain Neurons Control Receptivity to Male Courtship in Drosophila Melanogaster Females

Aranha

Herrmann

Cachitas

et al. 2017

Sci Rep

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Courtship behaviours allow animals to interact and display their qualities before committing to reproduction. In fly courtship, the female decides whether or not to mate and is thought to display receptivity by slowing down to accept the male. Very little is known on the neuronal brain circuitry controlling female receptivity. Here we use genetic manipulation and behavioural studies to identify a novel set of neurons in the brain that controls sexual receptivity in the female without triggering the postmating response. We show that these neurons, defined by the expression of the transcription factor apterous, affect the modulation of female walking speed during courtship. Interestingly, we found that the apterous neurons required for female receptivity are neither doublesex nor fruitless positive suggesting that apterous neurons are not specified by the sex-determination cascade. Overall, these findings identify a neuronal substrate underlying female response to courtship and highlight the central role of walking speed in the receptivity behaviour.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 93%

apterous Brain Neurons Control Receptivity to Male Courtship in Drosophila Melanogaster Females

Aranha

Herrmann

Cachitas

et al. 2017

Sci Rep

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“…Other recent studies have also examined the abdominal ganglion neurons necessary for female reproductive behavior in Drosophila (18,19,(33)(34)(35). One question is whether the neurons we report here are the same or different from those previously reported.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 43%

Sex-specific regulation of Lgr3 in Drosophila neurons

Meissner

Luo

Dias

et al. 2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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The development of sexually dimorphic morphology and the potential for sexually dimorphic behavior in Drosophila are regulated by the Fruitless (Fru) and Doublesex (Dsx) transcription factors. Several direct targets of Dsx have been identified, but direct Fru targets have not been definitively identified. We show that Drosophila leucine-rich repeat G protein-coupled receptor 3 (Lgr3) is regulated by Fru and Dsx in separate populations of neurons. Lgr3 is a member of the relaxin-receptor family and a receptor for Dilp8, necessary for control of organ growth. Lgr3 expression in the anterior central brain of males is inhibited by the B isoform of Fru, whose DNA binding domain interacts with a short region of an Lgr3 intron. Fru A and C isoform mutants had no observed effect on Lgr3 expression. The female form of Dsx (Dsx F ) separately up-and down-regulates Lgr3 expression in distinct neurons in the abdominal ganglion through female-and male-specific Lgr3 enhancers. Excitation of neural activity in the Dsx F -up-regulated abdominal ganglion neurons inhibits female receptivity, indicating the importance of these neurons for sexual behavior. Coordinated regulation of Lgr3 by Fru and Dsx marks a point of convergence of the two branches of the sex-determination hierarchy.M ost animal species are comprised of female and male individuals, in which sex differences in form and behavior are specified by their genetic makeup. The developmental processes by which genes build sex-specific differences into the nervous system, and hence encode the potential for sex-specific behavior, have long been of interest (1).In Drosophila melanogaster the assessment of the number of X chromosomes leads to sex-differential splicing of transcripts from genes making up the sex-determination hierarchy, in particular the terminal genes of that hierarchy, fruitless (fru) and doublesex [dsx (2), reviewed in ref. 3]. fru and dsx encode sexspecific Zn-finger transcription factors that alter, either directly or indirectly, the expression of downstream genes to produce the sexually dimorphic elements of flies. The male-specific forms of Fru (Fru M ) act in a subset of the neurons within the male's nervous system to establish the potential for social interactions such as courtship behavior and aggression (reviewed in ref.3). In contrast, Dsx acts in subsets of both neural and nonneural tissues of males and females to regulate behavioral and nonbehavioral aspects of sexual development (reviewed in ref.3).Although the mechanisms regulating the production of the sexspecific isoforms of the Fru and Dsx proteins are well-established (4), how these proteins in turn function is only beginning to be elucidated. Several direct Dsx targets and a well-conserved 13-bp Dsx binding site have been identified (5-13). Many Dsx target genes encode well-known transcription factors and cell-cell signaling molecules that function sex-nonspecifically in most tissues in which they are expressed. However, in other tissues, Dsx directs the sexspecific expression of these gene...

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“…We screened for promoter- Gal80 lines that selectively repressed expression of the tmc-Gal4 in the central brain. We successfully identified one Gal80 line, vGluT-Gal80 (Bussell et al, 2014), which specifically erased expression of the tmc-Gal4 reporter in central brain regions, such as the mushroom bodies and antennal lobes, while leaving intact staining of the md-L projections into the SEZ (Figures 6A and 6B). In addition, given that the motor neurons controlling muscle movements in Drosophila are glutaminergic (Daniels et al, 2008), vGluT-Gal80 serves to repress any potential Gal4 mis-expression in motor neurons.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Basis of Food Texture Sensation in Drosophila

Zhang

Aikin

et al. 2016

Neuron

104

124

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Summary Food texture has enormous affects on food preferences. However, the mechanosensory cells and key molecules responsible for sensing the physical properties of food are unknown. Here, we show that akin to mammals, the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, prefers food with a specific hardness or viscosity. This food texture discrimination depends upon a previously unknown multidendritic (md-L) neuron, which extends elaborate dendritic arbors innervating the bases of taste hairs. The md-L neurons exhibit directional selectivity in response to mechanical stimuli. Moreover, these neurons orchestrate different feeding behaviors depending on the magnitude of the stimulus. We demonstrate that the single Drosophila transmembrane channel-like (TMC) is expressed in md-L neurons, where it is required for sensing two key textural features of food—hardness and viscosity. We propose that md-L neurons are long-sought-after mechanoreceptor cells through which food mechanics are perceived and encoded by a taste organ, and this sensation depends on TMC.

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Abdominal-B Neurons Control Drosophila Virgin Female Receptivity

Cited by 93 publications

References 47 publications

apterous Brain Neurons Control Receptivity to Male Courtship in Drosophila Melanogaster Females

apterous Brain Neurons Control Receptivity to Male Courtship in Drosophila Melanogaster Females

Sex-specific regulation of Lgr3 in Drosophila neurons

The Basis of Food Texture Sensation in Drosophila

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