Increased male-male courtship in ecdysone receptor deficient adult flies.
Male-male courtship is infrequent among mature adult Drosophila melanogaster. After pairs of mature adult males expressing a temperature-sensitive allele of the ecdysone receptor (EcR) gene were treated at a restrictive temperature, however, they engaged in elevated levels of male-male courtship. EcR-deficient males courted wildtype males and females, but were not courted by wildtype males. These results suggest that the ecdysone steroid hormone system may have a role in courtship initiation by adult male fruit flies.
Ganter
Geoffrey K
GK
Department of Biological Sciences, University of New England, 11 Hills Beach Road, Biddeford, ME 04005, USA. gganter@une.edu
Walton
Kelsey L
KL
Merriman
Jacob O
JO
Salmon
Mark V
MV
Brooks
Krista M
KM
Maddula
Swathi
S
Kravitz
Edward A
EA
D000818:Animals; D002755:Choice Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D003433:Crosses, Genetic; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D018451:Homosexuality, Male / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D023421:Models, Animal; D011987:Receptors, Steroid / Q000172:deficiency* / Q000235:genetics*; D012726:Sexual Behavior, Animal; D015398:Signal Transduction
D011987:Receptors, Steroid; C055469:ecdysone receptor