Summary
Background: Female sexual receptivity offers an excellent
model for complex behavioral de... more Summary Background: Female sexual receptivity offers an excellent model for complex behavioral decisions. The female must parse her own reproductive state, the external environment, and male sensory cues to decide whether to copulate. In the fly Drosophila melanogaster, virgin female receptivity has received relatively little attention, and its neural circuitry and individual behavioral components remain unmapped. Using a genome-wide neuronal RNAi screen, we identify a subpopulation of neurons responsible for pausing, a novel behavioral aspect of virgin female receptivity characterized in this study. Results: We show that Abdominal-B (Abd-B), a homeobox transcription factor, is required in developing neurons for high levels of virgin female receptivity. Silencing adult Abd-B neurons significantly decreased receptivity. We characterize two components of receptivity that are elicited in sexually mature females by male courtship: pausing and vaginal plate opening. Silencing Abd-B neurons decreased pausing but did not affect vaginal plate opening, demonstrating that these two components of femalesexual behavior are functionally separable. Synthetic activation of Abd-B neurons increased pausing, but male courtship song alone was not sufficient to elicit this behavior. Conclusions: Our results provide an entry point to the neural circuit controlling virgin female receptivity. The female integrates multiple sensory cues from the male to execute discrete motor programs prior to copulation. Abd-B neurons control pausing, a key aspect of female sexual receptivity, in response to male courtship.
People think they are in control of their own decisions: what to eat or drink, whom to marry or p... more People think they are in control of their own decisions: what to eat or drink, whom to marry or pick a fight with, where to live, what to buy. Behavioural economists and neurophysiologists have long studied decision-making behaviours. However, these behaviours have only recently been studied through the light of molecular genetics. Here, we review recent research in mice, Drosophila melanogaster and Caenorhabditis elegans, that analyses the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying decision-making. These studies interrogate decision-making about food, sexual behaviour, aggression or foraging strategies, and add molecular and cell biology understanding onto the consilience of brain and decision.
Mating in many species induces a dramatic switch in female reproductive behaviour. In most insect... more Mating in many species induces a dramatic switch in female reproductive behaviour. In most insects, this switch is triggered by factors present in the male's seminal fluid. How these factors exert such profound effects in females is unknown. Here we identify a receptor for the Drosophila melanogaster sex peptide (SP, also known as Acp70A), the primary trigger of post-mating responses in this species. Females that lack the sex peptide receptor (SPR, also known as CG16752), either entirely or only in the nervous system, fail to respond to SP and continue to show virgin behaviours even after mating. SPR is expressed in the female's reproductive tract and central nervous system. The behavioural functions of SPR map to the subset of neurons that also express the fruitless gene, a key determinant of sex-specific reproductive behaviour. SPR is highly conserved across insects, opening up the prospect of new strategies to control the reproductive and host-seeking behaviours of agricultural pests and human disease vectors.
Females of many animal species behave very differently before and after mating. In Drosophila mel... more Females of many animal species behave very differently before and after mating. In Drosophila melanogaster, changes in female behavior upon mating are triggered by the sex peptide (SP), a small peptide present in the male's seminal fluid. SP activates a specific receptor, the sex peptide receptor (SPR), which is broadly expressed in the female reproductive tract and nervous system. Here, we pinpoint the action of SPR to a small subset of internal sensory neurons that innervate the female uterus and oviduct. These neurons express both fruitless (fru), a marker for neurons likely to have sex-specific functions, and pickpocket (ppk), a marker for proprioceptive neurons. We show that SPR expression in these fru + ppk + neurons is both necessary and sufficient for behavioral changes induced by mating. These neurons project to regions of the central nervous system that have been implicated in the control of reproductive behaviors in Drosophila and other insects.
Summary
Background: Female sexual receptivity offers an excellent
model for complex behavioral de... more Summary Background: Female sexual receptivity offers an excellent model for complex behavioral decisions. The female must parse her own reproductive state, the external environment, and male sensory cues to decide whether to copulate. In the fly Drosophila melanogaster, virgin female receptivity has received relatively little attention, and its neural circuitry and individual behavioral components remain unmapped. Using a genome-wide neuronal RNAi screen, we identify a subpopulation of neurons responsible for pausing, a novel behavioral aspect of virgin female receptivity characterized in this study. Results: We show that Abdominal-B (Abd-B), a homeobox transcription factor, is required in developing neurons for high levels of virgin female receptivity. Silencing adult Abd-B neurons significantly decreased receptivity. We characterize two components of receptivity that are elicited in sexually mature females by male courtship: pausing and vaginal plate opening. Silencing Abd-B neurons decreased pausing but did not affect vaginal plate opening, demonstrating that these two components of femalesexual behavior are functionally separable. Synthetic activation of Abd-B neurons increased pausing, but male courtship song alone was not sufficient to elicit this behavior. Conclusions: Our results provide an entry point to the neural circuit controlling virgin female receptivity. The female integrates multiple sensory cues from the male to execute discrete motor programs prior to copulation. Abd-B neurons control pausing, a key aspect of female sexual receptivity, in response to male courtship.
People think they are in control of their own decisions: what to eat or drink, whom to marry or p... more People think they are in control of their own decisions: what to eat or drink, whom to marry or pick a fight with, where to live, what to buy. Behavioural economists and neurophysiologists have long studied decision-making behaviours. However, these behaviours have only recently been studied through the light of molecular genetics. Here, we review recent research in mice, Drosophila melanogaster and Caenorhabditis elegans, that analyses the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying decision-making. These studies interrogate decision-making about food, sexual behaviour, aggression or foraging strategies, and add molecular and cell biology understanding onto the consilience of brain and decision.
Mating in many species induces a dramatic switch in female reproductive behaviour. In most insect... more Mating in many species induces a dramatic switch in female reproductive behaviour. In most insects, this switch is triggered by factors present in the male's seminal fluid. How these factors exert such profound effects in females is unknown. Here we identify a receptor for the Drosophila melanogaster sex peptide (SP, also known as Acp70A), the primary trigger of post-mating responses in this species. Females that lack the sex peptide receptor (SPR, also known as CG16752), either entirely or only in the nervous system, fail to respond to SP and continue to show virgin behaviours even after mating. SPR is expressed in the female's reproductive tract and central nervous system. The behavioural functions of SPR map to the subset of neurons that also express the fruitless gene, a key determinant of sex-specific reproductive behaviour. SPR is highly conserved across insects, opening up the prospect of new strategies to control the reproductive and host-seeking behaviours of agricultural pests and human disease vectors.
Females of many animal species behave very differently before and after mating. In Drosophila mel... more Females of many animal species behave very differently before and after mating. In Drosophila melanogaster, changes in female behavior upon mating are triggered by the sex peptide (SP), a small peptide present in the male's seminal fluid. SP activates a specific receptor, the sex peptide receptor (SPR), which is broadly expressed in the female reproductive tract and nervous system. Here, we pinpoint the action of SPR to a small subset of internal sensory neurons that innervate the female uterus and oviduct. These neurons express both fruitless (fru), a marker for neurons likely to have sex-specific functions, and pickpocket (ppk), a marker for proprioceptive neurons. We show that SPR expression in these fru + ppk + neurons is both necessary and sufficient for behavioral changes induced by mating. These neurons project to regions of the central nervous system that have been implicated in the control of reproductive behaviors in Drosophila and other insects.
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Papers by Nilay Yapici
Background: Female sexual receptivity offers an excellent
model for complex behavioral decisions. The female must
parse her own reproductive state, the external environment,
and male sensory cues to decide whether to copulate. In
the fly Drosophila melanogaster, virgin female receptivity has
received relatively little attention, and its neural circuitry and
individual behavioral components remain unmapped. Using
a genome-wide neuronal RNAi screen, we identify a subpopulation
of neurons responsible for pausing, a novel behavioral
aspect of virgin female receptivity characterized in this study.
Results: We show that Abdominal-B (Abd-B), a homeobox
transcription factor, is required in developing neurons for high
levels of virgin female receptivity. Silencing adult Abd-B neurons
significantly decreased receptivity. We characterize two
components of receptivity that are elicited in sexually mature
females by male courtship: pausing and vaginal plate opening.
Silencing Abd-B neurons decreased pausing but did not affect
vaginal plate opening, demonstrating that these two components
of femalesexual behavior are functionally separable. Synthetic
activation of Abd-B neurons increased pausing, but male
courtship song alone was not sufficient to elicit this behavior.
Conclusions: Our results provide an entry point to the neural
circuit controlling virgin female receptivity. The female integrates
multiple sensory cues from the male to execute discrete
motor programs prior to copulation. Abd-B neurons control
pausing, a key aspect of female sexual receptivity, in response
to male courtship.
Background: Female sexual receptivity offers an excellent
model for complex behavioral decisions. The female must
parse her own reproductive state, the external environment,
and male sensory cues to decide whether to copulate. In
the fly Drosophila melanogaster, virgin female receptivity has
received relatively little attention, and its neural circuitry and
individual behavioral components remain unmapped. Using
a genome-wide neuronal RNAi screen, we identify a subpopulation
of neurons responsible for pausing, a novel behavioral
aspect of virgin female receptivity characterized in this study.
Results: We show that Abdominal-B (Abd-B), a homeobox
transcription factor, is required in developing neurons for high
levels of virgin female receptivity. Silencing adult Abd-B neurons
significantly decreased receptivity. We characterize two
components of receptivity that are elicited in sexually mature
females by male courtship: pausing and vaginal plate opening.
Silencing Abd-B neurons decreased pausing but did not affect
vaginal plate opening, demonstrating that these two components
of femalesexual behavior are functionally separable. Synthetic
activation of Abd-B neurons increased pausing, but male
courtship song alone was not sufficient to elicit this behavior.
Conclusions: Our results provide an entry point to the neural
circuit controlling virgin female receptivity. The female integrates
multiple sensory cues from the male to execute discrete
motor programs prior to copulation. Abd-B neurons control
pausing, a key aspect of female sexual receptivity, in response
to male courtship.