Neural Regions Affecting Female Aggression and Receptivity in Drosophila melanogaster
Abstract
The genetic tools that exist in Drosophila melanogaster make it possible to assess the influence of specific regions of the brain on complex behaviour. Examples of such behaviours include female aggression and receptivity to male courtship. Silencing a candidate region called the mushroom body (MB) was found to decrease female receptivity. Additionally, silencing a specific subset of the MB, the alpha/beta lobes, was also found to decrease receptivity. SIFamide neurons are known to effect receptivity, though manipulation of SIFamide signaling in the MB produced no such changes in receptivity. Aggression, another complex behaviour in Drosophila, was also affected by genetically controlled neural manipulation. More specifically, hyperactivation of a subset of neurons expressing the doublesex gene was found to incite high amounts of aggression in females but not males. Furthermore, the aggression demonstrated by these females differed based on the stimulus presented by the partners, with locomotion being a major elicitor of aggression.