Bray Steven, Amrein Hubert
Duke University Medical Center, Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, 252 CARL Building, Research Drive, Durham, NC 27710, USA.
Neuron. 2003 Sep 11;39(6):1019-29. doi: 10.1016/s0896-6273(03)00542-7.
Propagation in higher animals requires the efficient and accurate display of innate mating behaviors. In Drosophila melanogaster, male courtship consists of a stereotypic sequence of behaviors involving multiple sensory modalities, such as vision, audition, and chemosensation. For example, taste bristles located in the male forelegs and the labial palps are thought to recognize nonvolatile pheromones secreted by the female. Here, we report the identification of the putative pheromone receptor GR68a, which is expressed in chemosensory neurons of about 20 male-specific gustatory bristles in the forelegs. Gr68a expression is dependent on the sex determination gene doublesex, which controls many aspects of sexual differentiation and is necessary for normal courtship behavior. Tetanus toxin-mediated inactivation of Gr68a-expressing neurons or transgene-mediated RNA interference of Gr68a RNA leads to a significant reduction in male courtship performance, suggesting that GR68a protein is an essential component of pheromone-driven courtship behavior in Drosophila.
在高等动物中，繁殖需要高效且准确地展现先天交配行为。在黑腹果蝇中，雄性求偶行为由一系列刻板的行为组成，涉及多种感官模式，如视觉、听觉和化学感受。例如，位于雄性前腿和唇须上的味觉刚毛被认为能够识别雌性分泌的非挥发性信息素。在此，我们报告了推定信息素受体GR68a的鉴定结果，该受体在前腿约20根雄性特异性味觉刚毛的化学感受神经元中表达。Gr68a的表达依赖于性别决定基因doublesex，该基因控制着性别分化的许多方面，并且对于正常求偶行为是必需的。破伤风毒素介导的Gr68a表达神经元失活或转基因介导的Gr68a RNA干扰会导致雄性求偶表现显著降低，这表明GR68a蛋白是果蝇中信息素驱动的求偶行为的重要组成部分。
