Chromatin Modulatory Proteins and Olfactory Receptor Signaling in the Refinement and Maintenance of Fruitless Expression in Olfactory Receptor Neurons.
During development, sensory neurons must choose identities that allow them to detect specific signals and connect with appropriate target neurons. Ultimately, these sensory neurons will successfully integrate into appropriate neural circuits to generate defined motor outputs, or behavior. This integration requires a developmental coordination between the identity of the neuron and the identity of the circuit. The mechanisms that underlie this coordination are currently unknown. Here, we describe two modes of regulation that coordinate the sensory identities of Drosophila melanogaster olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs) involved in sex-specific behaviors with the sex-specific behavioral circuit identity marker fruitless (fru). The first mode involves a developmental program that coordinately restricts to appropriate ORNs the expression of fru and two olfactory receptors (Or47b and Ir84a) involved in sex-specific behaviors. This regulation requires the chromatin modulatory protein Alhambra (Alh). The second mode relies on the signaling from the olfactory receptors through CamK and histone acetyl transferase p300/CBP to maintain ORN-specific fru expression. Our results highlight two feed-forward regulatory mechanisms with both developmentally hardwired and olfactory receptor activity-dependent components that establish and maintain fru expression in ORNs. Such a dual mechanism of fru regulation in ORNs might be a trait of neurons driving plastic aspects of sex-specific behaviors.
Department of Neurobiology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America.
Catherine E
CE
Hueston
Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America.
Douglas
D
Olsen
Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America.
Qingyun
Q
Li
Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America.
Sumie
S
Okuwa
Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America.
Bo
B
Peng
Undergraduate Program in Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America.
Jianni
J
Wu
Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America.|Duke Institute for Brain Science, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America.
Pelin Cayirlioglu
PC
Volkan
D000818:Animals; D002843:Chromatin / Q000378:metabolism*; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D018034:Olfactory Receptor Neurons / Q000378:metabolism*; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics*
D002843:Chromatin; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors; C103226:fru protein, Drosophila