title: Visual input regulates circuit configuration in courtship conditioning of Drosophila melanogaster.
abstract: Courtship and courtship conditioning are behaviors that are regulated by multiple sensory inputs, including chemosensation and vision. Globally inhibiting CaMKII activity in Drosophila disrupts courtship plasticity while leaving visual and chemosensory perception intact. Light has been shown to modulate CaMKII-dependent memory formation in this paradigm and the circuitry for the nonvisual version of this behavior has been investigated. In this paradigm, volatile and tactile pheromones provide the primary driving force for courtship, and memory formation is dependent upon intact mushroom bodies and parts of the central complex. In the present study, we use the GAL4/UAS binary expression system to define areas of the brain that require CaMKII for modulation of courtship conditioning in the presence of visual, as well as chemosensory, information. Visual input suppressed the ability of mushroom body- and central complex-specific CaMKII inhibition to disrupt memory formation, indicating that the cellular circuitry underlying this behavior can be remodeled by changing the driving sensory modality. These findings suggest that the potential for plasticity in courtship behavior is distributed among multiple biochemically and anatomically distinct cellular circuits.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, and Volen Center for Complex Systems, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts 02454-9110, USA.
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Joiner
authors.forename: L C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Griffith
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified; D001921:Brain / Q000201:enzymology / Q000502:physiology; D054732:Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinase Type 2; D017871:Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000378:metabolism; D003213:Conditioning, Psychological / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D003380:Courtship; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D017930:Genes, Reporter; D008027:Light; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000502:physiology; D010455:Peptides / Q000494:pharmacology; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins; D012724:Sex Attractants / Q000502:physiology; D012726:Sexual Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D005656:Fungal Proteins; C052130:GAL4 protein, S cerevisiae; D010455:Peptides; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins; D012724:Sex Attractants; D014157:Transcription Factors; D054732:Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinase Type 2; D017871:Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinases