2002 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Genetic analysis of the microbrain mechanism controlling Drosophila courtship behavior
| Project/Area Number |
11168205
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Priority Areas (A)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Review Section |
Biological Sciences
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| Research Institution | Tohoku University |
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Principal Investigator |
ISONO Kunio Grad. Sch. Information Sciences Assos. Prof., 大学院・情報科学研究科, 助教授 (70124550)
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| Project Period (FY) |
1999 – 2001
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| Keywords | Drosophila / mating / action spectrum / (gene) white / (gene) chaoptic / vision / courtship / mutation |
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| Research Abstract |
Fixed action patterns are typically observed in the insect behaviors including mating, feeding or aggression. Little is known, however, about the nature of the genetic backgroud although those behaviors are often called as "genetically determined" or "instinctive". We found that the male courtship behavior of Drosophila is controlled by visual cue(s) from the compound eyes. Analysis of the action spectrum revealed at least two spectrall distinct regions : UV or shorter wavelengths tend to suppress the male courtship while longer wavelenghs encourage it. Comparative analysis among melanogaster subspecies group showed that each species has substantially different spectal dependency. Reciprocal analysis between strain within a given species we found that male genotype exclusively determines the light dependency. Through mutagenesis experiments we found that mutaion in the eye-pigent gene white or the cell adhesion gene chaoptic leads to suppression of courtship under light conditions where normal males show courtship. Both mutations in white and chaoptic are morphological mutations that affect the optical property of the eyes, especially the polarization sensitivity and/or the angular sensitivity of the photoreceptors without much affecting photosensitivity. Therefore we propose that males use the visual information through a chromatic and/or polarized light input and that Drosophila species have evolutionary divergent neuronal mechanism for the visual control of courtship.
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