Visualization and functional analysis of sex pheromone neural circuit of insects using an activity-dependent gene expression

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26850218
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Insect science
• Research Institution: Kanazawa University
• Principal Investigator: Taketoshi Kiya 金沢大学, 自然システム学系, 准教授 (90532309)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 初期応答遺伝子 / 神経活動 / フェロモン / 昆虫 / カイコ / ショウジョウバエ / 脳 / Hr38

Outline of Final Research Achievements

How do animals select their behavior in response to certain sensory inputs? Appropriate response to sensory information is critical for animal survival. In the present study, I focused on the brain of insects which has low complexity, but has similar circuit property and molecular basis as the brain of other animals including vertebrates. In many insects, sex pheromone induces stereotypic courtship behavior with clear relationship between receptor and behavior. Here, I established a novel neural circuit tracing method utilizing an activity-dependent gene expression. Recently, I identified a novel immediate early gene Hr38, whose expression increases in response to neural activity. In the present study, I used the promoter activity of Hr38 to express GFP in order to visualize neurons activated by sex pheromone or courtship behavior. In addition to previously known neural circuits, I identified novel circuits involved in courtship behavior.

Free Research Field

昆虫科学