A neuropeptide circuit that coordinates sperm transfer and copulation duration in
            <i>Drosophila</i>

Tayler, Timothy D.; Pacheco, Diego A.; Hergarden, Anne C.; Murthy, Mala; Anderson, David J.

doi:10.1073/pnas.1218246109

Cited by 119 publications

(144 citation statements)

References 34 publications

(35 reference statements)

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“…Thus, we examined the role of NTL and NTL-expressing neurons in mating behavior, which requires flies to integrate and coordinate virtually all sensory modalities to execute multiple motor programs. The neuropeptides SIFamide and corazonin recently have been shown to be involved in the mating behaviors of D. melanogaster (31,32).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Natalisin, a tachykinin-like signaling system, regulates sexual activity and fecundity in insects

Jiang

Lkhagva

Daubnerová

et al. 2013

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

122

166

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An arthropod-specific peptidergic system, the neuropeptide designated here as natalisin and its receptor, was identified and investigated in three holometabolous insect species: Drosophila melanogaster, Tribolium castaneum, and Bombyx mori. In all three species, natalisin expression was observed in 3-4 pairs of the brain neurons: the anterior dorso-lateral interneurons, inferior contralateral interneurons, and small pars intercerebralis neurons. In B. mori, natalisin also was expressed in two additional pairs of contralateral interneurons in the subesophageal ganglion. Natalisin-RNAi and the activation or silencing of the neural activities in the natalisin-specific cells in D. melanogaster induced significant defects in the mating behaviors of both males and females. Knockdown of natalisin expression in T. castaneum resulted in significant reduction in the fecundity. The similarity of the natalisin C-terminal motifs to those of vertebrate tachykinins and of tachykinin-related peptides in arthropods led us to identify the natalisin receptor. A G protein-coupled receptor, previously known as tachykinin receptor 86C (also known as the neurokinin K receptor of D. melanogaster), now has been recognized as a bona fide natalisin receptor. Taken together, the taxonomic distribution pattern of the natalisin gene and the phylogeny of the receptor suggest that natalisin is an ancestral sibling of tachykinin that evolved only in the arthropod lineage.N europeptides are ancestral signaling molecules that function as cell-cell communication mediators in multicellular organisms. Large numbers of diverse neuropeptides are involved in the control of animal behavior, development, and physiology. Recent genomic approaches have revealed diverse groups of neuropeptides in different taxa, based on similarities in the amino acid sequences to neuropeptides discovered in earlier physiological and anatomical studies (1-4). Sequenced genomes of many insect species (5) provide an opportunity to explore the evolutionary processes of neuropeptides and their receptors. Furthermore, the tools available in biotechnology that are readily applicable in suitable insect model species have advanced our understanding of the functions of neuropeptides. Drosophila melanogaster has been the best model system, allowing functional studies of neuropeptides and their receptors by the use of highly advanced molecular genetic tools and various publicly available resources (6). A number of other insect species, especially those with sequenced genomes, such as Bombyx mori and Tribolium castaneum, also have been used for investigations into the functions of neuropeptide signals, using piggyBac transformation (7) and RNAi (8,9).Previous studies on insect neuropeptides and their G proteincoupled receptors (GPCRs) have described tachykinin-related peptides (TRPs) and two GPCRs as the receptors for the TRPs in D. melanogaster and other insect species (10-14). In vertebrates tachykinin and the TRPs form a group of ancestral neuropeptides that are found in a wide rang...

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Natalisin, a tachykinin-like signaling system, regulates sexual activity and fecundity in insects

Jiang

Lkhagva

Daubnerová

et al. 2013

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

122

166

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“…In Drosophila, a role for Crz and crzR has been reported in resistance to alcohol sedation 41 and the regulation of sperm and seminal fluid transfer during mating. 42 Interestingly, the latter study provided evidence that Crz acts as a neurotransmitter, rather than a hormone. Thus, our next goal is to identify the brain neurons that express the crzR gene, which will provide critical information about the downstream targets in this neural circuit.…”

Section: Corazonin Is the Likely Neurotransmitter In Gr43amentioning

confidence: 95%

Diverse roles for theDrosophilafructose sensor Gr43a

Miyamoto

Amrein

2013

Fly

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“…Mushroom bodies also play important roles in courtship behavior and courtship learning or conditioning (Sakai and Kitamoto 2006;Keleman et al 2012;Zhou et al 2012). Finally, the expression of Nep1 in abdominal ganglia suggests a possible role in modulating sperm transfer and copulation duration that is regulated by corazonin expressed in the abdominal ganglia (Tayler et al 2012). …”

mentioning

confidence: 98%

Neprilysins: An Evolutionarily Conserved Family of Metalloproteases That Play Important Roles in Reproduction in Drosophila

et al. 2014

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Members of the M13 class of metalloproteases have been implicated in diseases and in reproductive fitness. Nevertheless, their physiological role remains poorly understood. To obtain a tractable model with which to analyze this protein family's function, we characterized the gene family in Drosophila melanogaster and focused on reproductive phenotypes. The D. melanogaster genome contains 24 M13 class protease homologs, some of which are orthologs of human proteases, including neprilysin. Many are expressed in the reproductive tracts of either sex. Using RNAi we individually targeted the five Nep genes most closely related to vertebrate neprilysin, Nep1-5, to investigate their roles in reproduction. A reduction in Nep1, Nep2, or Nep4 expression in females reduced egg laying. Nep1 and Nep2 are required in the CNS and the spermathecae for wild-type fecundity. Females that are null for Nep2 also show defects as hosts of sperm competition as well as an increased rate of depletion for stored sperm. Furthermore, eggs laid by Nep2 mutant females are fertilized normally, but arrest early in embryonic development. In the male, only Nep1 was required to induce normal patterns of female egg laying. Reduction in the expression of Nep2-5 in the male did not cause any dramatic effects on reproductive fitness, which suggests that these genes are either nonessential for male fertility or perform redundant functions. Our results suggest that, consistent with the functions of neprilysins in mammals, these proteins are also required for reproduction in Drosophila, opening up this model system for further functional analysis of this protein class and their substrates. P ROTEASES play key roles in diverse physiological systems. One such family of metalloproteases, the M13 class of neutral endopeptidases, consists mainly of membranebound zinc proteases that are involved in the processing of neuropeptides and peptide hormones (reviewed in Turner et al. 2000;Turner et al. 2001;Bland et al. 2008). In mammals, seven members of this family have been identified, of which neprilysin (NEP) and endothelin converting enzyme (ECE) are the best studied. These proteins have been implicated in various diseases including cardiovascular disease (Segura and Ruilope 2011;Wick et al. 2011), Alzheimer's disease (Mulder et al. 2012;Klein et al. 2013), inflammation and inflammatory disorders (Wong et al. 2011), and cancer (Smollich et al. 2007;Maguer-Satta et al. 2011).In addition to their role in disease, NEPs are essential for development and reproduction in mammals. The mammalian Neprilysin-2, called NL1 in mice, is highly expressed in the testis. NL1-deficient males sire fewer pups, even though spermatogenesis appears to be unaffected (Carpentier et al. 2004). In females, NEP expression in the uterus is modulated by estrogen treatment in rats (Pinto et al. 1999) and during the estrogen/progesterone cycle in humans (Head et al. 1993). In female rats and mice, controlled degradation of tachykinins, particularly substance-P, by NEP in the uterus ...

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A neuropeptide circuit that coordinates sperm transfer and copulation duration in Drosophila

Cited by 119 publications

References 34 publications

Natalisin, a tachykinin-like signaling system, regulates sexual activity and fecundity in insects

Natalisin, a tachykinin-like signaling system, regulates sexual activity and fecundity in insects

Diverse roles for theDrosophilafructose sensor Gr43a

Neprilysins: An Evolutionarily Conserved Family of Metalloproteases That Play Important Roles in Reproduction in Drosophila

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