Journal article
Excitatory and Inhibitory Switches for Courtship in the Brain of Drosophila melanogaster
Current biology, Vol.14(7), pp.538-547
04/06/2004
DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2004.03.037
PMID: 15062094
Abstract
Background: Courtship is the best-studied behavior in Drosophila melanogaster, and work on its anatomical basis has concentrated mainly on the functional identification of sexually dimorphic sites in the brain. Much less is known of the more expansive, nondimorphic, but nonetheless essential, neural elements subserving male courtship behavior.
Results: Sites in the CNS mediating initiation and early steps of male courtship in Drosophila melanogaster were identified by analyzing the behavior of mosaic flies expressing transgenes designed either to suppress neurotransmission or enhance neuronal excitability. Suppression of neurotransmission was accomplished by means of the dominantly acting, temperature-sensitive dynamin mutation shibirets1, whereas enhanced neuronal excitability was produced by means of a novel, dominantly acting, truncated eag potassium channel. By using a new, landmark-based procedure for aligning diverse expression patterns among the various mosaic strains, a comparison of courtship performance and affected brain sites in strains expressing the transgenes identified a cluster of cells in the posterior lateral protocerebrum that exerts reciprocal effects on the initiation of courtship, suppressing it when they are inactivated and enhancing it when they are hyperactivated, indicative of cells that normally play an excitatory, triggering role. A separate group of nearby cells, slightly more anterior in the lateral protocerebrum, was found to inhibit courtship when its activity is enhanced, indicative of an inhibitory role in courtship.
Conclusions: A cluster of cells, some excitatory and some inhibitory, in the lateral protocerebrum regulates courtship initiation in Drosophila. These cells are likely to be an integration center for the multiple sensory inputs that trigger male courtship.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Excitatory and Inhibitory Switches for Courtship in the Brain of Drosophila melanogaster
- Creators
- Susan J Broughton - Department of Biology, New York University, New York, NY 10003 USAToshihiro Kitamoto - Division of Neurosciences, Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope, 1450 East Duarte Road, Duarte, CA 91010 USARalph J Greenspan - Department of Biology, New York University, New York, NY 10003 USA
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Current biology, Vol.14(7), pp.538-547
- Publisher
- Elsevier Inc
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.cub.2004.03.037
- PMID
- 15062094
- ISSN
- 0960-9822
- eISSN
- 1879-0445
- Grant note
- DOI: 10.13039/100007431, name: Neurosciences Research Foundation, award: IBN-9513191, MH62684; DOI: 10.13039/100000001, name: National Science Foundation, award: IBN-9513191, MH62684; DOI: 10.13039/100000002, name: National Institutes of Health, award: IBN-9513191, MH62684
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 04/06/2004
- Academic Unit
- Iowa Neuroscience Institute; Anesthesia; Neuroscience and Pharmacology
- Record Identifier
- 9984006368802771
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