The choice of females to accept or reject male courtship is a critical decision for animal reproduction.Serotonin(5-hydroxytryptamine;5-HT)has been found to regulate sexual behavior in many species,but it is unclear h...The choice of females to accept or reject male courtship is a critical decision for animal reproduction.Serotonin(5-hydroxytryptamine;5-HT)has been found to regulate sexual behavior in many species,but it is unclear how 5-HT and its receptors function to regulate different aspects of sexual behavior.Here we used Drosophila melanogaster as the model animal to investigate how 5-HT and its receptors modulate female sexual receptivity.We found that knockout of tryptophan hydroxylase(Trh),which is involved in the biosynthesis of 5-HT,severely reduced virgin female receptivity without affecting post-mating behaviors.We identified a subset of sexually dimorphic Trh neurons that co-expressed fruitless(fru),in which the activity was correlated with sexual receptivity in females.We also found that 5-HT1A and 5-HT7 receptors regulate virgin female receptivity.Our findings demonstrate how 5-HT functions in sexually dimorphic neurons to promote virgin female receptivity through two of its receptors.展开更多
基金the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Y711181133 and Y711241133)the State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents at the Institute of Zoology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences(Y652751E03).
文摘The choice of females to accept or reject male courtship is a critical decision for animal reproduction.Serotonin(5-hydroxytryptamine;5-HT)has been found to regulate sexual behavior in many species,but it is unclear how 5-HT and its receptors function to regulate different aspects of sexual behavior.Here we used Drosophila melanogaster as the model animal to investigate how 5-HT and its receptors modulate female sexual receptivity.We found that knockout of tryptophan hydroxylase(Trh),which is involved in the biosynthesis of 5-HT,severely reduced virgin female receptivity without affecting post-mating behaviors.We identified a subset of sexually dimorphic Trh neurons that co-expressed fruitless(fru),in which the activity was correlated with sexual receptivity in females.We also found that 5-HT1A and 5-HT7 receptors regulate virgin female receptivity.Our findings demonstrate how 5-HT functions in sexually dimorphic neurons to promote virgin female receptivity through two of its receptors.
