Dataset Information

Neurons That Underlie Drosophila melanogaster Reproductive Behaviors: Detection of a Large Male-Bias in Gene Expression in fruitless-Expressing Neurons.

ABSTRACT: Male and female reproductive behaviors in Drosophila melanogaster are vastly different, but neurons that express sex-specifically spliced fruitless transcripts (fru P1) underlie these behaviors in both sexes. How this set of neurons can generate such different behaviors between the two sexes is an unresolved question. A particular challenge is that fru P1-expressing neurons comprise only 2-5% of the adult nervous system, and so studies of adult head tissue or whole brain may not reveal crucial differences. Translating Ribosome Affinity Purification (TRAP) identifies the actively translated pool of mRNAs from fru P1-expressing neurons, allowing a sensitive, cell-type-specific assay. We find four times more male-biased than female-biased genes in TRAP mRNAs from fru P1-expressing neurons. This suggests a potential mechanism to generate dimorphism in behavior. The male-biased genes may direct male behaviors by establishing cell fate in a similar context of gene expression observed in females. These results suggest a possible global mechanism for how distinct behaviors can arise from a shared set of neurons.

SUBMITTER: Newell NR

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4978899 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Neurons That Underlie Drosophila melanogaster Reproductive Behaviors: Detection of a Large Male-Bias in Gene Expression in fruitless-Expressing Neurons.

Newell Nicole R NR New Felicia N FN Dalton Justin E JE McIntyre Lauren M LM Arbeitman Michelle N MN

G3 (Bethesda, Md.) 20160809 8

Male and female reproductive behaviors in Drosophila melanogaster are vastly different, but neurons that express sex-specifically spliced fruitless transcripts (fru P1) underlie these behaviors in both sexes. How this set of neurons can generate such different behaviors between the two sexes is an unresolved question. A particular challenge is that fru P1-expressing neurons comprise only 2-5% of the adult nervous system, and so studies of adult head tissue or whole brain may not reveal crucial d ...[more]

PMID: 27247289

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Project description:Adult reproductive behaviors in Drosophila melanogaster males and females are vastly different. Yet, neurons that express sex-specifically spliced fruitless transcripts (fru P1) underlie these behaviors in both sexes. How the same set of neurons can drive such different behaviors is an important and unresolved question in developmental genetics. A particular challenge is that fru P1-expressing neurons are only 2-5% of the adult nervous system, making studies of adult head tissue, or even the whole brain, unlikely to yield informative inferences. Translating Ribosome Affinity Purification (TRAP) identifies the actively translated pool of mRNAs from fru P1-expressing neurons and allowed us to conduct a sensitive, cell-specific assay of gene expression. The male and female fru P1-expressing neurons have a shared set of 1,642 genes with enriched TRAP transcripts that form a distinct repertoire, relative to TRAP analyses of all neurons in the adult head. Further, there are a striking number of genes (3,147) that have sex-biased TRAP enrichment in fru P1-expressing neurons. Yet, most of these genes (3,107) have only male-biased TRAP enrichment. This suggests an underlying mechanism to generate dimorphism in behavior, with the transcript repertoire that specifies female behaviors present in both sexes and a large additional set of genes with expression in the male dramatically altering the pattern. Thus, these additional genes invoke the male-specific behaviors by establishing cell fate in the same context of gene expression observed in females. These results suggest a possible global mechanism for how distinct behaviors can arise in different environments, from a shared set of neurons. Libraries were prepared from five independent biological replicates, from TRAP adult heads samples from males and females, and the mRNA input from adult heads from males and females. For each experimental condition, approximately 1,000 flies that were 8 to 24 hours post-eclosion were used.

Dataset Information

Neurons That Underlie Drosophila melanogaster Reproductive Behaviors: Detection of a Large Male-Bias in Gene Expression in fruitless-Expressing Neurons.

Publications

Neurons That Underlie Drosophila melanogaster Reproductive Behaviors: Detection of a Large Male-Bias in Gene Expression in fruitless-Expressing Neurons.

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