Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, and the Neuroscience Research Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2024 Nov 19;121(47):e2404324121. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2404324121. Epub 2024 Nov 4.
Attraction and mating between male and female animals depend on effective communication between conspecifics. However, in mosquitoes, we have only a rudimentary understanding of the sensory cues and receptors critical for the communication that is essential for reproductive behavior. While it is known that male use sound to help them identify females, it is not unclear whether sound detection is absolutely required since other cues such as vision may also participate in mating behavior. To determine the effect of eliminating hearing on mating success, we knocked out the TRPVa channel, which is a protein expressed in chordotonal neurons in the Johnston's organ (JO) that respond to sound-induced movements in the antenna. Loss of eradicated sound-induced responses from the JO, thereby abolishing hearing. Strikingly, mutation of eliminated mating behavior in males. In contrast, -null females mated, although this behavior was slightly delayed relative to wild-type females. Males and females produce sounds as they beat their wings at distinct frequencies during flight. Sound mimicking the female wingbeat induced flight, attraction, and copulatory-like behavior in wild-type males without females present, but not in -null males. Males are known to modulate their wingbeat frequencies before mating in the air, which is a phenomenon referred to as rapid frequency modulation (RFM). We found that RFM was absent in mosquitoes lacking TRPVa. We conclude that the requirement for and hearing for male reproductive behavior in is absolute, as mating in the deaf males is eliminated.
动物的雌雄吸引和交配依赖于同种个体之间的有效沟通。然而，在蚊子中，我们对关键的感觉线索和受体只有初步的了解，而这些线索和受体对生殖行为至关重要。虽然已知雄性利用声音来帮助识别雌性，但目前还不清楚声音检测是否是绝对必需的，因为其他线索，如视觉，也可能参与交配行为。为了确定消除听觉对交配成功的影响，我们敲除了 TRPVa 通道，该通道是约翰斯顿器官（JO）中的音叉神经元中表达的一种蛋白质，对触角的声音诱导运动有反应。 缺失消除了 JO 中的声音诱导反应，从而消除了听觉。引人注目的是， 的突变消除了雄性的交配行为。相比之下， 缺失的雌性会交配，尽管与野生型雌性相比，这种行为略有延迟。雄性和雌性在飞行时以不同的频率拍打翅膀产生声音。在没有雌性存在的情况下，模拟雌性翅膀拍打声音的声音会诱导野生型雄性飞行、吸引和类似交配的行为，但不会诱导 缺失的雄性。已知雄性在空气中交配前会调节翅膀拍打频率，这种现象称为快速频率调制（RFM）。我们发现，缺乏 TRPVa 的蚊子不存在 RFM。我们的结论是， 对雄性生殖行为的需求是绝对的，因为聋雄性的交配行为被消除了。
