Villanova University, Department of Biology, 800 East Lancaster Ave, Villanova, PA 19085, USA.
Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, 19700 Helix Drive, Ashburn, VA 20147, USA.
Curr Biol. 2022 Apr 25;32(8):1703-1714.e3. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2022.02.031. Epub 2022 Mar 3.
Sexually dimorphic courtship behaviors in Drosophila melanogaster develop from the activity of the sexual differentiation genes, doublesex (dsx) and fruitless (fru), functioning with other regulatory factors that have received little attention. The dissatisfaction (dsf) gene encodes an orphan nuclear receptor homologous to vertebrate Tlx and Drosophila tailless that is critical for the development of several aspects of female- and male-specific sexual behaviors. Here, we report the pattern of dsf expression in the central nervous system and show that the activity of sexually dimorphic abdominal interneurons that co-express dsf and dsx is necessary and sufficient for vaginal plate opening in virgin females, ovipositor extrusion in mated females, and abdominal curling in males during courtship. We find that dsf activity results in different neuroanatomical outcomes in females and males, promoting and suppressing, respectively, female development and function of these neurons depending upon the sexual state of dsx expression. We posit that dsf and dsx interact to specify sex differences in the neural circuitry for dimorphic abdominal behaviors.
性二态求爱行为在黑腹果蝇中是由性别分化基因 doublesex（dsx）和 fruitless（fru）的活性发展而来，与其他调节因子一起作用，但这些调节因子很少受到关注。Dissatisfaction（dsf）基因编码一个与脊椎动物 Tlx 和果蝇 tailless 同源的孤儿核受体，对于几种雌性和雄性特异性性行为的发育至关重要。在这里，我们报告了 dsf 在中枢神经系统中的表达模式，并表明 co-express dsf 和 dsx 的性二态性腹部中间神经元的活性对于处女雌性的阴道板开口、交配后雌性的产卵器伸出以及雄性求爱期间的腹部卷曲是必要和充分的。我们发现，dsf 活性在雌性和雄性中导致不同的神经解剖学结果，分别促进和抑制这些神经元的雌性发育和功能，这取决于 dsx 表达的性状态。我们假设 dsf 和 dsx 相互作用，以指定用于二态性腹部行为的神经回路中的性别差异。
