How sexual experience modulates innate behavior: a neurogenetic study in Drosophila

2020 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16H06371
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (S)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Research Field: Neurophysiology / General neuroscience
• Research Institution: National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (2018-2020); Tohoku University (2016-2017)
• Principal Investigator: Yamamoto Daisuke 国立研究開発法人情報通信研究機構, 未来ICT研究所, 上席研究員 (50318812)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 木村 賢一 北海道教育大学, 教育学部, 教授 (80214873)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-05-31 – 2021-03-31
• Keywords: 発達可塑性 / ショウジョウバエ / 遺伝子 / Fruitless / 本能行動 / 求愛行動 / 神経回路 / K+電流

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Same-sex sexual behavior is prevalent among Drosophila males that are mutant for the fruitless (fru) locus, which, in wild type, encodes a set of transcription factors functioning as the master regulator for the formation of a neural circuit underlying male mating behavior. Recent studies unraveled that this same-sex sexual behavior in fru mutant males is inhibited by deprivation of social interactions among males after emergence, providing an opportunity to explore the gene-environment interplay in shaping complex behaviors. To seek for the possible molecular and cellular underpinnings of this gene-environment interplay, we focused on the mating decision-making neurons P1 neurons in the brain, the artificial activation of which effectively elicits male courtship even in the absence of a courtship target. In vivo whole-cell patch clamp recordings from P1 neurons revealed that K+ outward currents are markedly affected by social interactions.

Free Research Field

行動遺伝学、神経科学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

生体の高次機能、特に動物の行動的特徴を形作る際のいわゆる“氏か育ちか”の問題は、遺伝子と環境の相互作用の実相を問う生物学の根本課題であり、この疑問に答えを出す端緒となる知見を得ることができた点は学術的・社会的に意義は大きい。