Cellular Organization of the Neural Circuit that Drives Drosophila Courtship Behavior
Cellular Organization of the Neural Circuit that Drives Drosophila Courtship Behavior
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DOI：
10.1016/j.cub.2010.08.025
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发表时间：
2010-09-28
期刊：
影响因子：
9.2
通讯作者：
Dickson, Barry J.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Yu, Jai Y.;Kanai, Makoto I.;Dickson, Barry J.
背景：果蝇的求偶行为与类似于 1500 个表达无果 (fru) 基因的性别特异性转录本的异质神经元组的活动存在因果关系，但我们目前缺乏对该群体内细胞多样性、这些细胞性别二态性的程度以及它们如何组织成功能回路的了解。 结果：我们使用遗传方法定义了 100 个不同类别的 fru 神经元，并将其编译成数字模型细胞分辨率的 3D 图谱。我们确定了许多神经元的极性，并计算了它们可能的连接模式，从而将它们组装成一个从感觉输入延伸到运动输出的神经回路。该回路的细胞组织揭示了大脑中的神经元通路，这些通路可能整合来自其他果蝇的多种感觉线索，并向胸神经节的运动回路发出下行控制信号。我们在该回路中发现了 11 个解剖二态性：雄性特有的神经元，雄性比雌性的数量更多，或者雄性和雌性具有不同的树枝化模式。结论：fru 回路的细胞组织表明多种不同的感觉线索如何整合到果蝇的大脑中以驱动性别特异性的求偶行为。我们认为，感觉处理和运动控制是通过男性和女性大致相似的回路来调节的。相反，性别特异性行为可能是通过大脑和神经索中的二态电路产生的，这些电路将感觉输入与运动输出差异耦合。
Background: Courtship behavior in Drosophila has been causally linked to the activity of the heterogeneous set of similar to 1500 neurons that express the sex-specific transcripts of the fruitless (fru) gene, but we currently lack an appreciation of the cellular diversity within this population, the extent to which these cells are sexually dimorphic, and how they might be organized into functional circuits.Results: We used genetic methods to define 100 distinct classes of fru neuron, which we compiled into a digital 3D atlas at cellular resolution. We determined the polarity of many of these neurons and computed their likely patterns of connectivity, thereby assembling them into a neural circuit that extends from sensory input to motor output. The cellular organization of this circuit reveals neuronal pathways in the brain that are likely to integrate multiple sensory cues from other flies and to issue descending control signals to motor circuits in the thoracic ganglia. We identified 11 anatomical dimorphisms within this circuit: neurons that are male specific, are more numerous in males than females, or have distinct arborization patterns in males and females.Conclusions: The cellular organization of the fru circuit suggests how multiple distinct sensory cues are integrated in the fly's brain to drive sex-specific courtship behavior. We propose that sensory processing and motor control are mediated through circuits that are largely similar in males and females. Sex-specific behavior may instead arise through dimorphic circuits in the brain and nerve cord that differentially couple sensory input to motor output.