Ohashi Takuro S, Xu Yifeng Y J, Shigaki Shunsuke, Nakamura Yukiko, Lee Tai-Ting, Loh YuMin M, Mishiro-Sato Emi, Eberl Daniel F, Su Matthew P, Kamikouchi Azusa
Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Aichi 464-8602, Japan.
Institute of Transformative Bio-Molecules (WPI-ITbM), Nagoya University, Nagoya, Aichi 464-8602, Japan.
Sci Adv. 2025 Jun 6;11(23):eads2689. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.ads2689. Epub 2025 Jun 4.
Although low-frequency sounds have been reported to stimulate dispersal responses in male and female mosquitoes, only males show attraction to sound. Male attraction to female flight tones is important during courtship; however, groups of males show diverse responses to acoustic stimuli, suggesting that auditory processing can vary drastically between the sexes and individual males. To investigate diversity in auditory representation within and between the sexes, we used molecular and functional analyses to explore mosquito auditory processing. We identified shared and dimorphic neurons connecting mosquito ears to the brains' primary auditory processing center. Calcium imaging from this brain region facilitated definition of multiple neuronal clusters based on auditory stimulation responses. More clusters with greater complexity were identified in males than females, with these clusters highly differentiated among males. Transcriptomic and proteomic analyses found enrichment of ciliary-related factors in male ears compared to females, potentially underlying sexual dimorphisms in hearing systems.
尽管已有报道称低频声音会刺激雄性和雌性蚊子的扩散反应，但只有雄性蚊子会被声音吸引。在求偶过程中，雄性对雌性飞行音调的吸引很重要；然而，雄性群体对声学刺激表现出不同的反应，这表明两性之间以及个体雄性之间的听觉处理可能存在巨大差异。为了研究两性内部和之间听觉表征的多样性，我们使用分子和功能分析来探索蚊子的听觉处理。我们确定了连接蚊子耳朵与大脑初级听觉处理中心的共享神经元和两性异形神经元。来自该脑区的钙成像有助于根据听觉刺激反应定义多个神经元簇。与雌性相比，雄性中识别出的簇更多且更复杂，并且这些簇在雄性之间高度分化。转录组学和蛋白质组学分析发现，与雌性相比，雄性耳朵中与纤毛相关的因子富集，这可能是听觉系统两性差异的潜在原因。
