STRUCTURE, BEHAVIOR AND MECHANISMS UNDERLYING SENSATION OF CH503, A DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER PHEROMONE

Abstract

The stereotyped courtship behavior of the genetically tractable model Drosophila melanogaster is driven by pheromones and other sensory signals. The overall aim of this thesis project is to characterize the neural circuitry underlying male courtship behavior in D. melanogaster by examining how the recently discovered sex pheromone CH503 is perceived and processed into a behavioral response. CH503 is characterized as a taste pheromone. Using behavioral analysis, genetic manipulation, and live calcium imaging, Gr68a expressing neurons on the forelegs of male flies were found to exhibit a sexually-dimorphic physiological response to the pheromone and relay information to the central brain via peptidergic neurons. The release of tachykinin from 8-10 cells within the suboesophageal zone is required for the pheromone-triggered courtship suppression. Taken together, this work describes a neuropeptide modulated central brain circuit that underlies the programmed behavioral response to a gustatory sex pheromone.