Post-mating Refractoriness in Drosophila melanogaster Depends Upon Ecdysis Triggering Hormone Signaling

The decision to engage in courtship depends on external cues from potential mates and internal cues related to maturation, health, and experience. Hormones allow such information to be conveyed to distal tissues in a coordinated fashion. Here, we show Ecdysis-Triggering Hormone (ETH) is a regulator of male courtship in Drosophila melanogaster, and critical for mate choice and courtship inhibition after the completion of copulation. Preventing ETH release increases male-male courtship and decreases post-copulation courtship inhibition (PCCI). Such aberrant male courtship behavior in ETH-deficient males appears to be the consequence of inabilityto integrate pheromone cues into decision making. Silencing of ETH receptor (ETHR) in GR32A-expressing neurons leads to reduced ligand sensitivity and elevated male-male courtship. We find OR67D is critical for suppression of courtship after mating, and ETHR silencing in OR67D-expressing neurons, and GR32A-expressing neurons to a lesser degree, elevates post-copulation courtship. Finally, ETHR silencing in the corpus allatum increases post-copulation courtship; treatment of with juvenile hormone analog partially restores normal post-mating behavior. ETH, a stress-sensitive reproductive hormone, appears to coordinate multiple sensory modalities to guide Drosophila male courtship behaviors, especially after mating.

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Turning Males On: Activation of Male Courtship Behavior in Drosophila melanogaster

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0021144 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 6 (6) ◽

pp. e21144 ◽

Cited By ~ 59

Author(s):

Yufeng Pan ◽

Carmen C. Robinett ◽

Bruce S. Baker

Keyword(s):

Drosophila Melanogaster ◽

Courtship Behavior ◽

Male Courtship ◽

Male Courtship Behavior

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The Role of miRNAs in Drosophila melanogaster Male Courtship Behavior

Genetics ◽

10.1534/genetics.118.301901 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 211 (3) ◽

pp. 925-942 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Hina Iftikhar ◽

Nicholas L. Johnson ◽

Matthew L. Marlatt ◽

Ginger E. Carney

Keyword(s):

Drosophila Melanogaster ◽

Large Scale ◽

Courtship Behavior ◽

Neuronal Cell ◽

Mate Guarding ◽

Inhibitory Response ◽

Survival Strategies ◽

Male Courtship ◽

Adaptive Responses ◽

Male Courtship Behavior

Drosophila melanogaster courtship, although stereotypical, continually changes based on cues received from the courtship subject. Such adaptive responses are mediated via rapid and widespread transcriptomic reprogramming, a characteristic now widely attributed to microRNAs (miRNAs), along with other players. Here, we conducted a large-scale miRNA knockout screen to identify miRNAs that affect various parameters of male courtship behavior. Apart from identifying miRNAs that impact male–female courtship, we observed that miR-957 mutants performed significantly increased male–male courtship and “chaining” behavior, whereby groups of males court one another. We tested the effect of miR-957 reduction in specific neuronal cell clusters, identifying miR-957 activity in Doublesex (DSX)-expressing and mushroom body clusters as an important regulator of male–male courtship interactions. We further characterized the behavior of miR-957 mutants and found that these males court male subjects vigorously, but do not elicit courtship. Moreover, they fail to lower courtship efforts toward females with higher levels of antiaphrodisiac pheromones. At the level of individual pheromones, miR-957 males show a reduced inhibitory response to both 7-Tricosene (7-T) and cis-vaccenyl acetate, with the effect being more pronounced in the case of 7-T. Overall, our results indicate that a single miRNA can contribute to the regulation of complex behaviors, including detection or processing of chemicals that control important survival strategies such as chemical mate-guarding, and the maintenance of sex- and species-specific courtship barriers.

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The white gene controls copulation success in Drosophila melanogaster

10.1101/072710 ◽

2016 ◽

Author(s):

Chengfeng Xiao ◽

Shuang Qiu ◽

R Meldrum Robertson

Keyword(s):

Drosophila Melanogaster ◽

Copy Number ◽

Genetic Background ◽

Genetic Basis ◽

Courtship Behavior ◽

Sexual Experience ◽

Male Courtship ◽

Wild Type ◽

Eye Color ◽

Male Courtship Behavior

ABSTRACTCharacteristics of male courtship behavior in Drosophila melanogaster have been well-described, but the genetic basis of male-female copulation is largely unknown. Here we show that the white (w) gene, a classical gene for eye color, is associated with copulation success. 82.5% of wild-type Canton-S flies copulated within 60 minutes in circular arenas, whereas few white-eyed mutants mated successfully. The w+ allele exchanged to the X chromosome or duplicated to the Y chromosome in the white-eyed genetic background rescued the defect of copulation success. The w+-associated copulation success was independent of eye color phenotype. Addition of the mini-white (mw+) gene to the white-eyed mutant rescued the defect of copulation success in a manner that was mw+ copy number-dependent. Lastly, male-female sexual experience mimicked the effects of w+/mw+ in improving successful copulation. These data suggest that the w+ gene controls copulation success in Drosophila melanogaster.

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Faculty Opinions recommendation of The Role of miRNAs in Drosophila melanogaster Male Courtship Behavior.

Faculty Opinions – Post-Publication Peer Review of the Biomedical Literature ◽

10.3410/f.734925430.793557671 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Lauren McIntyre

Keyword(s):

Drosophila Melanogaster ◽

Courtship Behavior ◽

Male Courtship ◽

Male Courtship Behavior

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Ecdysis triggering hormone receptors regulate male courtship behavior via antennal lobe interneurons in Drosophila

General and Comparative Endocrinology ◽

10.1016/j.ygcen.2018.12.003 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 278 ◽

pp. 79-88 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Sonali A. Deshpande ◽

Matthew Meiselman ◽

Robert H. Hice ◽

Peter Arensburger ◽

Crisalejandra Rivera-Perez ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Antennal Lobe ◽

Hormone Receptors ◽

Courtship Behavior ◽

Male Courtship ◽

Ecdysis Triggering Hormone ◽

Male Courtship Behavior

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Dopaminergic neurons mediate male Drosophila courtship motivational state

10.1101/733733 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Guangxia Wang

Keyword(s):

Drosophila Melanogaster ◽

Sexual Behavior ◽

Dopaminergic Neurons ◽

Courtship Behavior ◽

Male Courtship ◽

Motivational State ◽

Motivational States ◽

Base Theory ◽

Sex Drive ◽

Male Courtship Behavior

AbstractMotivational states are important determinants of behavior. In Drosophila melanogaster, courtship behavior is robust and crucial for species continuation. However, the motivation of courtship behavior remains unexplored. We first find the phenomenon that courtship behavior is modulated by motivational state. A male fly courts another male fly when it first courts a decapitated female fly however, male– male courtship behavior rarely occurs under normal conditions. Male flies that have satisfied the need for sexual behavior show a decreased male–female sex drive. Therefore, in this phenomenon, the male fly’s courtship motivational state is induced by its exposure to female flies. Blocking dopaminergic neurons by expressing TNTe decreases motivational state-induced male–male courtship behavior without affecting male–female courtship behavior. Vision cues are another key component in sexually driven male–female courtship behavior. Here, we identify a base theory that the inner motivational state could eventually decide fly behavior.

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