Neural circuit mechanisms of sexual receptivity in Drosophila females
Neural circuit mechanisms of sexual receptivity in Drosophila females
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DOI：
10.1038/s41586-020-2972-7
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发表时间：
2020-11-25
期刊：
影响因子：
64.8
通讯作者：
Dickson, Barry J.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Wang, Kaiyu;Wang, Fei;Dickson, Barry J.
选择伴侣是女性一生中做出的最重要的决定之一。一只雌性苍蝇通过打开她的阴道板来表示她愿意交配，允许求偶的雄性交配(1，2)。阴道板打开(VPO)是对雄性求爱歌声的反应，并取决于雌性的交配状态。这些外部感觉(SONG)和内部感觉(交配状态)输入是如何整合来调节VPO的，目前尚不清楚。在这里，我们描述了雌性黑腹果蝇大脑中执行交配决定的神经回路。我们发现VPO是由一对女性特有的下行神经元(VpoDns)控制的。VpoDns从听觉神经元(VpoENs)和pc1神经元(编码雌性交配状态(3，4))接收兴奋性输入，听觉神经元(VpoENs)调节到黑腹歌声的特定特征。VpoDns的鸣唱反应在交配时会减弱，但vpoEN不会，这是交配后雌性动物接受性降低的原因。这种调节是由pc1神经元介导的。因此，vpoDns直接整合了控制雌性果蝇交配决定的外部和内部信号。
Choosing a mate is one of the most consequential decisions a female will make during her lifetime. A female fly signals her willingness to mate by opening her vaginal plates, allowing a courting male to copulate(1,2). Vaginal plate opening (VPO) occurs in response to the male courtship song and is dependent on the mating status of the female. How these exteroceptive (song) and interoceptive (mating status) inputs are integrated to regulate VPO remains unknown. Here we characterize the neural circuitry that implements mating decisions in the brain of female Drosophila melanogaster. We show that VPO is controlled by a pair of female-specific descending neurons (vpoDNs). The vpoDNs receive excitatory input from auditory neurons (vpoENs), which are tuned to specific features of the D. melanogaster song, and from pC1 neurons, which encode the mating status of the female(3,4). The song responses of vpoDNs, but not vpoENs, are attenuated upon mating, accounting for the reduced receptivity of mated females. This modulation is mediated by pC1 neurons. The vpoDNs thus directly integrate the external and internal signals that control the mating decisions of Drosophila females.