Neural circuit mechanisms of sexual receptivity in Drosophila females

Kaiyu Wang, Fei Wang, Nora Forknall, Tansy Yang, Christopher Patrick, Ruchi Parekh and Barry J. Dickson ()
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Kaiyu Wang: Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Fei Wang: Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Nora Forknall: Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Tansy Yang: Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Christopher Patrick: Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Ruchi Parekh: Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Barry J. Dickson: Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Nature, 2021, vol. 589, issue 7843, 577-581

Abstract: Abstract Choosing a mate is one of the most consequential decisions a female will make during her lifetime. A female fly signals her willingness to mate by opening her vaginal plates, allowing a courting male to copulate1,2. Vaginal plate opening (VPO) occurs in response to the male courtship song and is dependent on the mating status of the female. How these exteroceptive (song) and interoceptive (mating status) inputs are integrated to regulate VPO remains unknown. Here we characterize the neural circuitry that implements mating decisions in the brain of female Drosophila melanogaster. We show that VPO is controlled by a pair of female-specific descending neurons (vpoDNs). The vpoDNs receive excitatory input from auditory neurons (vpoENs), which are tuned to specific features of the D. melanogaster song, and from pC1 neurons, which encode the mating status of the female3,4. The song responses of vpoDNs, but not vpoENs, are attenuated upon mating, accounting for the reduced receptivity of mated females. This modulation is mediated by pC1 neurons. The vpoDNs thus directly integrate the external and internal signals that control the mating decisions of Drosophila females.

Date: 2021
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2972-7

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