Social experience and pheromone receptor activity reprogram behavioral switch and neuromodulatory gene expression in sensory neurons

Abstract

Social experience and pheromone signaling in ORNs affect pheromone responses and male courtship behaviors in Drosophila, however, the molecular mechanisms underlying this circuit-level neuromodulation remain less clear. Previous studies identified social experience and pheromone signaling-dependent modulation of chromatin around behavioral switch gene fruitless, which encodes a transcription factor necessary and sufficient for male behaviors. To identify the molecular mechanisms driving social experience-dependent neuromodulation, we performed RNA-seq from antennal samples of mutant fruit flies in pheromone receptors and fruitless, as well as grouped or isolated wild-type males. We found that loss of pheromone detection differentially alters the levels of fruitless exons suggesting changes in splicing patterns. In addition, many Fruitless target neuromodulatory genes, such as neurotransmitter receptors, ion channels, and ion transporters, are differentially regulated by social context and pheromone signaling. Our results suggest that modulation of circuit activity and behaviors in response to social experience and pheromone signaling arise due to changes in transcriptional programs for neuromodulators downstream of behavioral switch gene function.

The effect of Drosophila attP40 background on the glomerular organization of Or47b olfactory receptor neurons

“…To measure whether the insertion of Or47b-GAL4 transgene into Bacc gene locus affects its expression, we used the quantitative reverse transcription-PCR (qRT-PCR) to extract and quantify the mRNA levels from whole heads of fruit flies. RNA extraction, cDNA preparation, and qPCR protocols were described previously ( Zhao et al 2020 ; Deanhardt et al . 2022 ).…”

The effect ofDrosophila attP40background on the glomerular organization of Or47b olfactory receptor neurons

“…RNA extraction, cDNA preparation, and qPCR protocols were described previously (Z hao et al . 2020; D eanhardt et al . 2022).…”