title: apterous Brain Neurons Control Receptivity to Male Courtship in Drosophila Melanogaster Females.
abstract: Courtship behaviours allow animals to interact and display their qualities before committing to reproduction. In fly courtship, the female decides whether or not to mate and is thought to display receptivity by slowing down to accept the male. Very little is known on the neuronal brain circuitry controlling female receptivity. Here we use genetic manipulation and behavioural studies to identify a novel set of neurons in the brain that controls sexual receptivity in the female without triggering the postmating response. We show that these neurons, defined by the expression of the transcription factor apterous, affect the modulation of female walking speed during courtship. Interestingly, we found that the apterous neurons required for female receptivity are neither doublesex nor fruitless positive suggesting that apterous neurons are not specified by the sex-determination cascade. Overall, these findings identify a neuronal substrate underlying female response to courtship and highlight the central role of walking speed in the receptivity behaviour.
authors.affiliation: Champalimaud Neuroscience Programme, Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown, 1400-038 Lisbon, Portugal.
authors.forename: Márcia M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Aranha
authors.affiliation: Champalimaud Neuroscience Programme, Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown, 1400-038 Lisbon, Portugal.|Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência, 2780-156 Oeiras, Portugal.
authors.forename: Dennis
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Herrmann
authors.affiliation: Champalimaud Neuroscience Programme, Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown, 1400-038 Lisbon, Portugal.
authors.forename: Hugo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cachitas
authors.affiliation: Champalimaud Neuroscience Programme, Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown, 1400-038 Lisbon, Portugal.|Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência, 2780-156 Oeiras, Portugal.
authors.forename: Ricardo M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Neto-Silva
authors.affiliation: Champalimaud Neuroscience Programme, Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown, 1400-038 Lisbon, Portugal.|Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência, 2780-156 Oeiras, Portugal.
authors.forename: Sophie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dias
authors.affiliation: Champalimaud Neuroscience Programme, Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown, 1400-038 Lisbon, Portugal.|Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência, 2780-156 Oeiras, Portugal.
authors.forename: Maria Luísa
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Vasconcelos
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000166:cytology*; D003380:Courtship; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D020868:Gene Silencing; D060850:LIM-Homeodomain Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism*; D010641:Phenotype; D019849:Sex Determination Processes; D012726:Sexual Behavior, Animal; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism*; D016138:Walking
chemical_list: D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D060850:LIM-Homeodomain Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors; C074459:ap protein, Drosophila