Courtship Behavior in Drosophila Melanogaster: Towards a 'courtship Connectome'

Overview

Journal Curr Opin Neurobiol

Specialties Biology
Neurology

Date 2012 Oct 2

PMID 23021897

Citations 58

Authors

Hania J Pavlou

Stephen F Goodwin

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The construction of a comprehensive structural, and importantly functional map of the network of elements and connections forming the brain represents the Holy Grail for research groups working in disparate disciplines. Although technical limitations have restricted the mapping of human and mouse 'connectomes' to the level of brain regions, a finer degree of functional resolution is attainable in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, due to the armamentarium of genetic tools available for this model organism. Currently, one of the most amenable approaches employed by Drosophila neurobiologists involves mapping neuronal circuitry underlying complex innate behaviors - courtship being a classic paradigm. We discuss recent studies aimed at identifying the cellular components of courtship neural circuits, mapping function in these circuits and defining causal relationships between neural activity and behavior.

Citing Articles

NSF Workshop Report: Exploring Measurements and Interpretations of Intelligent Behaviors Across Animal Model Systems.

Gogola J, Joyce M, Vijayraghavan S, Barnum G, Wildenberg G J Comp Neurol. 2025; 533(3):e70035.

PMID: 40038068 PMC: 11879920. DOI: 10.1002/cne.70035.

NeuroMechFly v2: simulating embodied sensorimotor control in adult Drosophila.

Wang-Chen S, Stimpfling V, Lam T, Ozdil P, Genoud L, Hurtak F Nat Methods. 2024; 21(12):2353-2362.

PMID: 39533006 DOI: 10.1038/s41592-024-02497-y.

The function of juvenile-adult transition axis in female sexual receptivity of .

Li J, Ning C, Liu Y, Deng B, Wang B, Shi K Elife. 2024; 12.

PMID: 39240259 PMC: 11379460. DOI: 10.7554/eLife.92545.

Comparative connectomics of the descending and ascending neurons of the nervous system: stereotypy and sexual dimorphism.

Sturner T, Brooks P, Capdevila L, Morris B, Javier A, Fang S bioRxiv. 2024; .

PMID: 38895426 PMC: 11185702. DOI: 10.1101/2024.06.04.596633.

Descending networks transform command signals into population motor control.

Braun J, Hurtak F, Wang-Chen S, Ramdya P Nature. 2024; 630(8017):686-694.

PMID: 38839968 PMC: 11186778. DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07523-9.

References

Rideout E, Billeter J, Goodwin S . The sex-determination genes fruitless and doublesex specify a neural substrate required for courtship song. Curr Biol. 2007; 17(17):1473-8. PMC: 2583281. DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2007.07.047. View

Kondoh Y, Kaneshiro K, Kimura K, Yamamoto D . Evolution of sexual dimorphism in the olfactory brain of Hawaiian Drosophila. Proc Biol Sci. 2003; 270(1519):1005-13. PMC: 1691346. DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2003.2331. View

Cachero S, Ostrovsky A, Yu J, Dickson B, Jefferis G . Sexual dimorphism in the fly brain. Curr Biol. 2010; 20(18):1589-601. PMC: 2957842. DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2010.07.045. View

Benton R, Vannice K, Gomez-Diaz C, Vosshall L . Variant ionotropic glutamate receptors as chemosensory receptors in Drosophila. Cell. 2009; 136(1):149-62. PMC: 2709536. DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2008.12.001. View

Kimura K, Ote M, Tazawa T, Yamamoto D . Fruitless specifies sexually dimorphic neural circuitry in the Drosophila brain. Nature. 2005; 438(7065):229-33. DOI: 10.1038/nature04229. View

Vosshall L, Wong A, Axel R . An olfactory sensory map in the fly brain. Cell. 2000; 102(2):147-59. DOI: 10.1016/s0092-8674(00)00021-0. View

Yapici N, Kim Y, Ribeiro C, Dickson B . A receptor that mediates the post-mating switch in Drosophila reproductive behaviour. Nature. 2007; 451(7174):33-7. DOI: 10.1038/nature06483. View

Possidente D, Murphey R . Genetic control of sexually dimorphic axon morphology in Drosophila sensory neurons. Dev Biol. 1989; 132(2):448-57. DOI: 10.1016/0012-1606(89)90241-8. View

Bernstein J, Garrity P, Boyden E . Optogenetics and thermogenetics: technologies for controlling the activity of targeted cells within intact neural circuits. Curr Opin Neurobiol. 2011; 22(1):61-71. PMC: 3292652. DOI: 10.1016/j.conb.2011.10.023. View

10.

Lee T, Luo L . Mosaic analysis with a repressible cell marker for studies of gene function in neuronal morphogenesis. Neuron. 1999; 22(3):451-61. DOI: 10.1016/s0896-6273(00)80701-1. View

11.

Ruta V, Datta S, Vasconcelos M, Freeland J, Looger L, Axel R . A dimorphic pheromone circuit in Drosophila from sensory input to descending output. Nature. 2010; 468(7324):686-90. DOI: 10.1038/nature09554. View

12.

Miyamoto T, Amrein H . Suppression of male courtship by a Drosophila pheromone receptor. Nat Neurosci. 2008; 11(8):874-6. PMC: 5655991. DOI: 10.1038/nn.2161. View

13.

Rideout E, Dornan A, Neville M, Eadie S, Goodwin S . Control of sexual differentiation and behavior by the doublesex gene in Drosophila melanogaster. Nat Neurosci. 2010; 13(4):458-66. PMC: 3092424. DOI: 10.1038/nn.2515. View

14.

von Philipsborn A, Liu T, Yu J, Masser C, Bidaye S, Dickson B . Neuronal control of Drosophila courtship song. Neuron. 2011; 69(3):509-22. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2011.01.011. View

15.

Olsen S, Wilson R . Cracking neural circuits in a tiny brain: new approaches for understanding the neural circuitry of Drosophila. Trends Neurosci. 2008; 31(10):512-20. PMC: 2845908. DOI: 10.1016/j.tins.2008.07.006. View

16.

Wang L, Anderson D . Identification of an aggression-promoting pheromone and its receptor neurons in Drosophila. Nature. 2009; 463(7278):227-31. PMC: 2999963. DOI: 10.1038/nature08678. View

17.

Kimura K, Hachiya T, Koganezawa M, Tazawa T, Yamamoto D . Fruitless and doublesex coordinate to generate male-specific neurons that can initiate courtship. Neuron. 2008; 59(5):759-69. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2008.06.007. View

18.

Thistle R, Cameron P, Ghorayshi A, Dennison L, Scott K . Contact chemoreceptors mediate male-male repulsion and male-female attraction during Drosophila courtship. Cell. 2012; 149(5):1140-51. PMC: 3365544. DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2012.03.045. View

19.

Robinett C, Vaughan A, Knapp J, Baker B . Sex and the single cell. II. There is a time and place for sex. PLoS Biol. 2010; 8(5):e1000365. PMC: 2864297. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1000365. View

20.

Clyne J, Miesenbock G . Sex-specific control and tuning of the pattern generator for courtship song in Drosophila. Cell. 2008; 133(2):354-63. DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2008.01.050. View