title: Neurons That Underlie Drosophila melanogaster Reproductive Behaviors: Detection of a Large Male-Bias in Gene Expression in fruitless-Expressing Neurons.
abstract: Male and female reproductive behaviors in Drosophila melanogaster are vastly different, but neurons that express sex-specifically spliced fruitless transcripts (fru P1) underlie these behaviors in both sexes. How this set of neurons can generate such different behaviors between the two sexes is an unresolved question. A particular challenge is that fru P1-expressing neurons comprise only 2-5% of the adult nervous system, and so studies of adult head tissue or whole brain may not reveal crucial differences. Translating Ribosome Affinity Purification (TRAP) identifies the actively translated pool of mRNAs from fru P1-expressing neurons, allowing a sensitive, cell-type-specific assay. We find four times more male-biased than female-biased genes in TRAP mRNAs from fru P1-expressing neurons. This suggests a potential mechanism to generate dimorphism in behavior. The male-biased genes may direct male behaviors by establishing cell fate in a similar context of gene expression observed in females. These results suggest a possible global mechanism for how distinct behaviors can arise from a shared set of neurons.
authors.affiliation: Biomedical Sciences Department and Center for Genomics and Personalized Medicine, Florida State University, College of Medicine, Tallahassee, Florida 32306.
authors.forename: Nicole R
authors.initials: NR
authors.lastname: Newell
authors.affiliation: Genetics Institute and Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32610-0266.
authors.forename: Felicia N
authors.initials: FN
authors.lastname: New
authors.affiliation: Biomedical Sciences Department and Center for Genomics and Personalized Medicine, Florida State University, College of Medicine, Tallahassee, Florida 32306.
authors.forename: Justin E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Dalton
authors.affiliation: Genetics Institute and Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32610-0266.
authors.forename: Lauren M
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-0077-3359
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: McIntyre
authors.affiliation: Biomedical Sciences Department and Center for Genomics and Personalized Medicine, Florida State University, College of Medicine, Tallahassee, Florida 32306 michelle.arbeitman@med.fsu.edu.
authors.forename: Michelle N
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-2437-4352
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Arbeitman
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development; D005260:Female; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D008297:Male; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism; D012098:Reproduction / Q000235:genetics*; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D012726:Sexual Behavior, Animal; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors; C103226:fru protein, Drosophila
keywords: Drosophila; courtship behaviors; fruitless; genetics of sex; sex differences; sex hierarchy