Feeding regulates sex pheromone attraction and courtship in Drosophila females.

Sébastien Lebreton,Paul G Becher,Veit Grabe,Dick R Nässel,Peter Witzgall,Silke Sachse,Federica Trona,Mikael A Carlsson,Florian Bilz,Felipe Borrero-Echeverry,Bill S Hansson

doi:10.1038/srep13132

Abstract

In Drosophila melanogaster, gender-specific behavioural responses to the male-produced sex pheromone cis-vaccenyl acetate (cVA) rely on sexually dimorphic, third-order neural circuits. We show that nutritional state in female flies modulates cVA perception in first-order olfactory neurons. Starvation increases, and feeding reduces attraction to food odour, in both sexes. Adding cVA to food odour, however, maintains attraction in fed females, while it has no effect in males. Upregulation of sensitivity and behavioural responsiveness to cVA in fed females is paralleled by a strong increase in receptivity to male courtship. Functional imaging of the antennal lobe (AL), the olfactory centre in the insect brain, shows that olfactory input to DA1 and VM2 glomeruli is also modulated by starvation. Knocking down insulin receptors in neurons converging onto the DA1 glomerulus suggests that insulin-signalling partly controls pheromone perception in the AL, and adjusts cVA attraction according to nutritional state and sexual receptivity in Drosophila females.

Highlights

In Drosophila melanogaster, gender-specific behavioural responses to the male-produced sex pheromone cis-vaccenyl acetate rely on sexually dimorphic, third-order neural circuits
We here show that females and males use a first-order olfactory pathway for the integration of male-produced sex pheromone cis-vaccenyl acetate (cVA) and food signals, and that the female behavioural response to sex and food odours is modulated by its nutritional state, which influences sexual receptivity (Fig. 6)
Research emphasis has been placed on the male-produced sex pheromone cVA and the neural circuits encoding sex-specific behavioural responses[15,21]

Summary

Introduction

In Drosophila melanogaster, gender-specific behavioural responses to the male-produced sex pheromone cis-vaccenyl acetate (cVA) rely on sexually dimorphic, third-order neural circuits. Knocking down insulin receptors in neurons converging onto the DA1 glomerulus suggests that insulin-signalling partly controls pheromone perception in the AL, and adjusts cVA attraction according to nutritional state and sexual receptivity in Drosophila females. Males release the volatile sex pheromone cis-vaccenyl acetate (cVA), which increases female receptivity[10] and functions as an aggregation pheromone, since it enhances male and female attraction to food odour[11,12]. Females and males perceive olfactory signals via shared first-order olfactory neurons, while gender-specific differences in response to sex pheromone[15,19,20,21] and food odour[13] become apparent in www.nature.com/scientificreports/

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Discussion

Conclusion