Studies on the mechanism of neural and behavioral sex determination by the Drosophila fruitless gene

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The fruitless (fru) gene, a neural sex determinant of Drosophila, has been proposed as the master control gene for male courtship behavior. In this study, we describe the exhaustive identification of fru-expressing neurons in the brain, leading to the discovery of male-specific PI neuronal cluster that makes the decision to court and P2b neurons that convey the decision to the motor center in the thoracic ganglia. We also identified some of the factors that collaborate with Fru in establishing the single neuron sexual dimorphism.