Serotonin Signaling Modulates Sexual Receptivity of Virgin Female Drosophila.
10.1007/s12264-022-00908-8
- Author:
Baoxu MA
1
;
Rencong WANG
1
;
Yaohua LIU
2
;
Bowen DENG
3
;
Tao WANG
1
;
Fengming WU
4
;
Chuan ZHOU
5
Author Information
1. State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China.
2. Department of Plant Protection, Shanxi Agricultural University, Jinzhong, 30801, China.
3. Chinese Institute for Brain Research, Zhongguancun Life Sciences Park, Beijing, 102206, China.
4. State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China. wufengming@ioz.ac.cn.
5. State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China. zhouchuan@ioz.ac.cn.
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
5-HT;
5-HT receptors;
Drosophila;
Female sexual receptivity;
Fruitless;
Neurochemical;
Serotonin
- MeSH:
Animals;
Male;
Female;
Drosophila/physiology*;
Drosophila melanogaster/physiology*;
Serotonin;
Drosophila Proteins/physiology*;
Sexual Behavior, Animal/physiology*;
Transcription Factors;
Nerve Tissue Proteins
- From:
Neuroscience Bulletin
2022;38(11):1277-1291
- CountryChina
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
The choice of females to accept or reject male courtship is a critical decision for animal reproduction. Serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine; 5-HT) has been found to regulate sexual behavior in many species, but it is unclear how 5-HT and its receptors function to regulate different aspects of sexual behavior. Here we used Drosophila melanogaster as the model animal to investigate how 5-HT and its receptors modulate female sexual receptivity. We found that knockout of tryptophan hydroxylase (Trh), which is involved in the biosynthesis of 5-HT, severely reduced virgin female receptivity without affecting post-mating behaviors. We identified a subset of sexually dimorphic Trh neurons that co-expressed fruitless (fru), in which the activity was correlated with sexual receptivity in females. We also found that 5-HT1A and 5-HT7 receptors regulate virgin female receptivity. Our findings demonstrate how 5-HT functions in sexually dimorphic neurons to promote virgin female receptivity through two of its receptors.
