Abstract
Animals use acoustic signals across a variety of social behaviors, particularly courtship. In Drosophila, song is detected by antennal mechanosensory neurons and further processed by second-order aPN1/aLN(al) neurons. However, little is known about the central pathways mediating courtship hearing. In this study, we identified a male-specific pathway for courtship hearing via third-order ventrolateral protocerebrum Projection Neuron 1 (vPN1) neurons and fourth-order pC1 neurons. Genetic inactivation of vPN1 or pC1 disrupts song-induced male-chaining behavior. Calcium imaging reveals that vPN1 responds preferentially to pulse song with long inter-pulse intervals (IPIs), while pC1 responses to pulse song closely match the behavioral chaining responses at different IPIs. Moreover, genetic activation of either vPN1 or pC1 induced courtship chaining, mimicking the behavioral response to song. These results outline the aPN1-vPN1-pC1 pathway as a labeled line for the processing and transformation of courtship song in males.
DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.08477.001
The seemingly simple fruit fly engages in an intricate courtship ritual before it mates. Male flies use their wings to ‘sing’ a complex song that makes females more willing to mate. The song also encourages nearby males to start courting, and these males may then intervene to compete for the female. Each species of fruit fly has its own song, and it is important for both males and females to detect the right song.
The sounds of the courtship song are detected by vibration-sensitive neurons on the flies' antennae. These neurons send signals to the fly's brain. But little is known about how this information is then processed, or how information about the song can be integrated with other courtship cues.
Zhou et al. have now identified a pathway of neurons in male flies that is responsible for hearing the courtship song. This pathway stretches from the antennae to neurons deep within the brain. These neural pathways are different in males and females, suggesting that the two sexes use different circuits of neurons for hearing courtship songs. Zhou et al. then used genetic techniques to show that males need every neuron in this pathway to hear courtship songs.
Further experiments revealed that stimulating the ‘deep layer’ neurons caused male flies to respond as if they are hearing the courtship song. These neurons are likely to integrate the song with information from other senses and may encode a general signal for arousal.
These findings now pave the way to deepen our understanding of how information from different senses—for example, courtship songs, visual cues, and pheromones—can be integrated to drive specific behaviors. The next challenge is to explore how species-specific songs are detected and recognized, a goal that has yet to be achieved in any species.
DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.08477.002
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