Control of male sexual behavior in Drosophila by the sex determination pathway.
Understanding how genes influence behavior, including sexuality, is one of biology's greatest challenges. Much of the recent progress in understanding how single genes can influence behavior has come from the study of innate behaviors in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. In particular, the elaborate courtship ritual performed by the male fly has provided remarkable insights into how the neural circuitry underlying sexual behavior--which is largely innate in flies--is built into the nervous system during development, and how this circuitry functions in the adult. In this review we will discuss how genes of the sex determination pathway in Drosophila orchestrate the developmental events necessary for sex-specific behaviors and physiology, and the broader lessons this can teach us about the mechanisms underlying the development of sex-specific neural circuitry.
Billeter
Jean-Christophe
JC
IBLS Division of Molecular Genetics, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G11 6NU, UK.
Rideout
Elizabeth J
EJ
Dornan
Anthony J
AJ
Goodwin
Stephen F
SF
D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D001921:Brain / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D019849:Sex Determination Processes; D012726:Sexual Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology
D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; C070369:DSX protein, Drosophila; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors; C103226:fru protein, Drosophila