Role of Doublesex-Dependent Phosphodiesterase 1c Expression in Gustatory Receptor Neurons in Male Courtship Behavior of Drosophila Melanogaster

Hattori M, Takase D, Aoki F and Suzuki MG

Published on: 2024-05-01

Abstract

Objective: Doublesex (dsx) is known to control sexual dimorphism in male and female morphology and sexual behaviors, such as courtship, in Drosophila melanogaster. However, Dsx target genes involved in male courtship behavior have yet to be identified. This study was performed to examine the molecular mechanisms underlying the neural circuitry driving male courtship behavior by identifying novel target genes of Dsx that are involved in male sexual behavior.

Methods: We screened 6230 genes predicted to be direct targets of Dsx by previous ChIP- seq analyses for the word “mating” in the GO term and reported to have functions related to courtship behavior. We investigated the expression patterns of the resulting candidate Dsx target genes in the central nervous system and the effects of their functional depletion on male mating behavior.

Results: The results identified two genes, both of which encode phosphodiesterases, which fulfilled both of the above conditions. One of the selected genes, phosphodiesterase 1c (Pde1c), was found to be coexpressed with dsx in several neuronal subsets, including the gustatory receptor neurons (GRNs), which are involved in male courtship behavior and are also known as dsx-expressing neurons. Pde1c knockdown in dsx-expressing cells caused significant delay in the time to initiation of copulation and significantly decreased the mating rate. Furthermore, these abnormalities in mating behavior were partially reproduced by knockdown of Pde1c expression in GRNs.

Conclusion: Pde1c expression in GRNs is involved in male courtship behavior and its specific expression in GRNs may be under the control of Dsx.