2013 Fiscal Year Final Research Report
Visualization and analysis of sex pheromone neural circuits in insects using a novel immediate early gene.
| Project/Area Number |
24780047
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
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| Allocation Type | Multi-year Fund |
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| Research Field |
Applied entomology
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| Research Institution | Kanazawa University |
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Principal Investigator |
KIYA Taketoshi 金沢大学, 自然システム学系, 特任助教 (90532309)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2012-04-01 – 2014-03-31
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| Keywords | カイコ / ショウジョウバエ / Hr38 / フェロモン / 神経活動 / 昆虫 / 脳 / 初期応答遺伝子 |
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| Research Abstract |
Many insects exhibit stereotypic instinctive behavior, but the underlying neural mechanisms are not well understood due to difficulties in detecting brain activity in freely-moving animals. Immediate early genes (IEGs) whose expression is transiently and rapidly upregulated upon neural activity are powerful tools for detecting behavior-related neural activity. In the present study, I identified Hr38 as a novel IEG that is transiently expressed in the male silkmoth, Bombyx mori, by female odor stimulation. Using Hr38 expression as an indicator of neural activity, I mapped comprehensive activity patterns of the silkmoth brain in response to female sex pheromones. I found that Hr38 can also be used as a neural activity marker in the fly, Drosophila melanogaster. Using Hr38, I constructed a neural activity map of the fly brain in response to female stimulation. In adddition, I established transgenic insects whose active neurons can be visualized with GFP, using Hr38 expression as tools.
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Research Products
(21 results)
