Gailey D A, Hall J C, Siegel R W
Genetics. 1985 Dec;111(4):795-804. doi: 10.1093/genetics/111.4.795.
Male Drosophila melanogaster that have courted newly-emerged males can modify their subsequent courtship behavior to avoid further courtship with immature males for up to 6 hr (previously reported). Here, it was hypothesized that such an experience-dependent modification would afford a mating advantage to normal males over males that carried a mutation that affects learning and memory. Coisogenic lines were constructed which varied at the dunce gene (dnc+ and dncM14 alleles) in order to test this hypothesis. Whether previously experienced with immature males or not, dnc+ and dncM14 males were indistinguishable in their response and mating efficiency when individually paired with virgin females. However, courtship performance of dnc+ and dncM14 males was different if they were first experienced with immature males and were then individually tested in an artificial population of nine immature males and one virgin female. In this situation, dnc+ males spent much less time in courtship with immature males and achieved copulation in one-third the time required for dncM14 males. As a control, the behavior and mating efficiency of courtship-naive dnc+ and dncM14 males in the artificial population was indistinguishable. In competition for a single virgin female, experienced dncM14 males showed a slight mating advantage over experienced dnc+ males. But when competition by experienced males for a single virgin female took place in the presence of nine immature males, dnc+ males were the successful maters in three-fourths of the trials.
已经向新羽化的雄性果蝇求爱的雄性果蝇，能够改变其随后的求爱行为，以避免在长达6小时内（此前报道）与未成熟的雄性果蝇进一步求爱。在此，有人提出假设，这种依赖经验的行为改变将使正常雄性果蝇比携带影响学习和记忆突变的雄性果蝇具有交配优势。构建了在迟钝基因（dnc+和dncM14等位基因）上存在差异的同基因系，以检验这一假设。无论之前是否与未成熟的雄性果蝇有过接触，当dnc+和dncM14雄性果蝇分别与未交配的雌性果蝇配对时，它们在反应和交配效率上没有区别。然而，如果dnc+和dncM14雄性果蝇首先与未成熟的雄性果蝇接触，然后在由九只未成熟的雄性果蝇和一只未交配的雌性果蝇组成的人工群体中单独进行测试，它们的求爱表现是不同的。在这种情况下，dnc+雄性果蝇与未成熟雄性果蝇求爱的时间要少得多，交配所需时间仅为dncM14雄性果蝇的三分之一。作为对照，在人工群体中，从未有过求爱经历的dnc+和dncM14雄性果蝇的行为和交配效率没有区别。在争夺一只未交配的雌性果蝇时，有过经历的dncM14雄性果蝇比有过经历的dnc+雄性果蝇表现出轻微的交配优势。但是，当有过经历的雄性果蝇在九只未成熟雄性果蝇在场的情况下争夺一只未交配的雌性果蝇时，dnc+雄性果蝇在四分之三的试验中成功交配。
