Aprison Erin Z, Ruvinsky Ilya
Department of Molecular Biosciences, Northwestern University.
MicroPubl Biol. 2022 Feb 2;2022. doi: 10.17912/micropub.biology.000523. eCollection 2022.
Animals broadcast small molecule pheromones that can alter behavior and physiology in conspecifics. Neuronal circuits that regulate these processes remain largely unknown. In , male-enriched ascaroside sex pheromone ascr#10, in addition to behavioral effects, expands the population of germline precursor cells in hermaphrodites. Previously, we identified several sensory neurons required for this effect. We also found that feedback from egg laying acts via serotonergic signaling to license the pheromone response in reproducing adults. Here, using newly available reagents, we confirm and extend several of our previous conclusions: a) the ADL neurons are essential for the ascr#10 response, b) phasmid neurons (PHA and PHB) are unlikely to be involved in the ascr#10 response, c) the receptor is the main conduit of the serotonergic feedback from egg laying, and d) serotonin remains the only currently known signal of this feedback. Our findings better define the neuronal circuits that mediate the germline response to the major male pheromone.
动物会释放小分子信息素，这些信息素能够改变同种个体的行为和生理状态。调节这些过程的神经回路在很大程度上仍不为人所知。在之前的研究中，富含雄性的ascaroside性信息素ascar#10，除了具有行为效应外，还能增加雌雄同体中生殖系前体细胞的数量。此前，我们鉴定出了产生这种效应所需的几种感觉神经元。我们还发现，产卵的反馈通过血清素信号传导，来使成年生殖个体对信息素产生反应。在这里，我们使用新获得的试剂，证实并扩展了我们之前的几个结论：a）ADL神经元对ascar#10反应至关重要；b）咽侧体神经元（PHA和PHB）不太可能参与ascar#10反应；c） 受体是产卵血清素反馈的主要传导途径；d）血清素仍然是目前已知的这种反馈的唯一信号。我们的研究结果更好地定义了介导生殖系对主要雄性信息素反应的神经回路。
