Thefruitlessgene affects female receptivity and species isolation

Abstract

Female mate rejection acts as a major selective force within species, and can serve as a reproductive barrier between species. In spite of its critical role in fitness and reproduction, surprisingly little is known about the genetic or neural basis of variation in female mate choice. Here, we identify fruitless as a gene affecting female receptivity within Drosophila melanogaster , as well as female Drosophila simulans rejection of male D. melanogaster . Of the multiple transcripts this gene produces, by far the most widely studied is the sex-specifically spliced transcript involved in the sex determination pathway. However, we find that female rejection behaviour is affected by a non-sex-specifically spliced fruitless transcript. This is the first implication of fruitless in female behaviour, and the first behavioural role identified for a fruitless non-sex-specifically spliced transcript. We found that this locus does not influence preferences via a single sensory modality, examining courtship song, antennal pheromone perception, or perception of substrate vibrations, and we conclude that fruitless influences mate choice via the integration of multiple signals or through another sensory modality.

bric à brac controls sex pheromone choice by male European corn borer moths

“…That two very distinct mechanisms have been discovered in Heliothis and O. nubilalis , two of the limited number of moth species amenable to QTL mapping, indicates that there is not a single evolutionary trajectory. Apparently, evolution can be accomplished by changes of direct sensing of pheromones as in Heliothis 13 , or in a manner reminiscent of other sensory modalities (e.g., visual, auditory 39 , 40 ), in O. nubilalis by altered signal processing, despite potential pleiotropic effects that may be associated with transcription factor mutations, including to other parts of the olfactory circuit 19 , 38 , 41 . Mechanisms of lepidopteran olfactory evolution therefore appear more diverse than commonly believed, with fewer constraints and more properties in common with other sensory modalities.…”

Controlling sex : evolution of sex determination, sexual differentiation and endosymbiont-induced asexual reproduction in three parasitoid wasps

“…promoting neurons do not express P1 Fru transcripts, but rely on the expression of Dsx to maintain their function(Zhou et al, 2014). Furthermore, non-sex-specific Fru was recently implicated in D. melanogaster to affect female rejection behaviour(Chowdhury et al, 2020). Here we find no decreased receptivity or increased mating failures in both 4 th instar and pupal stage NvDsx-i females.…”

Integrating lipid metabolism, pheromone production and perception by Fruitless and Hepatocyte nuclear factor 4

“…Its expression has been detected in neuroblasts in both male and female larval CNS ( 41 ). Fru COM appears to be also required in adult female brain to regulate female rejection behavior ( 67 ). Outside the nervous system, Fru COM is detected in specific cell types in the reproductive system ( 66 , 68 ), and is necessary for the maintenance of germline stem cells and cyst stem cells in male gonads ( 40 ).…”