Abstract
Drosophila species communicate the threat of parasitoid wasps to naïve individuals. Communication of the threat between closely related species is efficient, while more distantly related species exhibit a dampened, partial communication. Partial communication between D. melanogaster and D. ananassae about wasp presence is enhanced following a period of cohabitation, suggesting that species-specific natural variations in communication ‘dialects’ can be learned through socialization. In this study, we identify six regions of the Drosophila brain essential for dialect training. We pinpoint subgroups of neurons in these regions, including motion detecting neurons in the optic lobe, layer 5 of the fan-shaped body, the D glomerulus in the antennal lobe, and the odorant receptor Or69a, where activation of each component is necessary for dialect learning. These results reveal functional neural circuits that underlie complex Drosophila social behaviors, and these circuits are required for integration several cue inputs involving multiple regions of the Drosophila brain.
Highlights
Drosophila species communicate the threat of parasitoid wasps to naïve individuals
Using this fly–fly social learning paradigm, we asked (1) what neuronal groups are required for inter-species dialect training and acquisition and (2) what is the subset of neurons/receptors in a given neuronal structure that is necessary for dialect learning
We replicated a previous finding demonstrating the ability of D. melanogaster to enhance its communication ability with D. ananassae following a weeklong cohousing termed “dialect training” (Supplementary Fig. 1)[15]
Summary
Dialect training is governed by multiple brain regions. In order to quantify communication ability, we utilized the fly duplex; an apparatus with two transparent acrylic compartments allowing flies to see other flies or wasps in the adjacent compartment, without direct contact (Fig. 1a). When dialect training is performed at the restrictive temperature, both optic lobe and MB GAL4 lines driving expression of UAS-shits result in perturbed dialect learning (Supplementary Figs 2–5). This was true for two unique GAL4-. Driver lines for each MB and optic lobe regions, while at the permissive temperature flies exhibited wild-type dialect learning (Supplementary Figs 2–5) These results validate our experimental approach, and further suggest that dialect training is partially by visual inputs and MB-dependent learning and memory circuitry. Or69a binds kairomonal terpenoids, such as linalool or terpineol, which are found in both fruit and yeast
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