Division of Life Sciences, Graduate School of Natural Science & Technology, Kanazawa University, Kanazawa, Ishikawa 920-1192, Japan.
Research Center for Experimental Modeling of Human Disease, Kanazawa University, Kanazawa, Ishikawa 920-8640, Japan.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2023 Aug 15;120(33):e2303318120. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2303318120. Epub 2023 Aug 7.
Innate behavior, such as courtship behavior, is controlled by a genetically defined set of neurons. To date, it remains challenging to visualize and artificially control the neural population that is active during innate behavior in a whole-brain scale. Immediate early genes (IEGs), whose expression is induced by neural activity, can serve as powerful tools to map neural activity in the animal brain. We screened for IEGs in vinegar fly and identified as a potent neural activity marker. Focusing on male courtship as a model of innate behavior, we demonstrate that -mediated reporter expression can label ()-expressing neurons involved in courtship in an activity (experience)-dependent manner. Optogenetic reactivation of the labeled neurons elicited sexual behavior in males, whereas silencing of the labeled neurons suppressed courtship and copulation. Further, by combining mediated reporter expression and detection of endogenous Stripe expression, we established methods that can label neurons activated under different contexts in separate time windows in the same animal. The cell assembly analysis of neural population in males revealed that distinct groups of neurons are activated during interactions with a female or another male. These methods will contribute to building a deeper understanding of neural circuit mechanisms underlying innate insect behavior.
先天行为，如求偶行为，由一组基因定义的神经元控制。迄今为止，在全脑范围内可视化和人为控制先天行为过程中活跃的神经元群体仍然具有挑战性。即时早期基因（IEGs）的表达可被神经活动诱导，可作为在动物大脑中映射神经活动的有力工具。我们在醋蝇中筛选 IEGs，并鉴定出作为一种有效的神经活动标记物。我们专注于雄性求偶作为先天行为的模型，证明了介导的报告基因表达可以以活动（经验）依赖的方式标记参与求偶的表达的神经元。标记神经元的光遗传学再激活诱发性行为，而标记神经元的沉默则抑制求偶和交配。此外，通过结合介导的报告基因表达和内源性条纹表达的检测，我们建立了可以在同一动物的不同时间窗口中标记不同背景下激活的神经元的方法。雄性的神经群体的细胞组装分析表明，在与雌性或另一只雄性相互作用时，不同的神经元群被激活。这些方法将有助于深入了解先天昆虫行为的神经回路机制。
