Pheromones mediating copulation and attraction in Drosophila.
Intraspecific olfactory signals known as pheromones play important roles in insect mating systems. In the model Drosophila melanogaster, a key part of the pheromone-detecting system has remained enigmatic through many years of research in terms of both its behavioral significance and its activating ligands. Here we show that Or47b-and Or88a-expressing olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs) detect the fly-produced odorants methyl laurate (ML), methyl myristate, and methyl palmitate. Fruitless (fru(M))-positive Or47b-expressing OSNs detect ML exclusively, and Or47b- and Or47b-expressing OSNs are required for optimal male copulation behavior. In addition, activation of Or47b-expressing OSNs in the male is sufficient to provide a competitive mating advantage. We further find that the vigorous male courtship displayed toward oenocyte-less flies is attributed to an oenocyte-independent sustained production of the Or47b ligand, ML. In addition, we reveal that Or88a-expressing OSNs respond to all three compounds, and that these neurons are necessary and sufficient for attraction behavior in both males and females. Beyond the OSN level, information regarding the three fly odorants is transferred from the antennal lobe to higher brain centers in two dedicated neural lines. Finally, we find that both Or47b- and Or88a-based systems and their ligands are remarkably conserved over a number of drosophilid species. Taken together, our results close a significant gap in the understanding of the olfactory background to Drosophila mating and attraction behavior; while reproductive isolation barriers between species are created mainly by species-specific signals, the mating enhancing signal in several Drosophila species is conserved.
['Dweck|Hany K M|HK|', 'Ebrahim|Shimaa A M|SA|', 'Thoma|Michael|M|', 'Mohamed|Ahmed A M|AA|', 'Keesey|Ian W|IW|', 'Trona|Federica|F|', 'Lavista-Llanos|Sofia|S|', 'Svatoš|Aleš|A|', 'Sachse|Silke|S|', 'Knaden|Markus|M|', 'Hansson|Bill S|BS|']
D000818:Animals D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified D003307:Copulation D029721:Drosophila Proteins D004331:Drosophila melanogaster D005260:Female D017344:Genes, Insect D006838:Hydrocarbons D007848:Laurates D008297:Male D009154:Mutation D009227:Myristic Acids D009812:Odorants D018034:Olfactory Receptor Neurons D010168:Palmitates D018035:Receptors, Odorant D012724:Sex Attractants D012726:Sexual Behavior, Animal D012903:Smell
pheromone Drosophila mating olfaction olfactory circuit