Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Nirag Kadakia, Mahmut Demir, Brenden T. Michaelis, Brian D. DeAngelis, Matthew A. Reidenbach, Damon A. Clark, Thierry Emonet
Summary: Insects, such as fruit flies, navigate in odor plumes using the wind direction as a cue. However, recent research shows that fruit flies also use the direction of odor motion as an additional navigational cue, which they detect using temporal correlations in the odor signal between their two antennae. This finding suggests that odor-direction sensing may be a widespread phenomenon in the animal kingdom and could improve olfactory robot navigation in uncertain environments.
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Heather K. E. Ward, Amanda J. Moehring
Summary: Surface chemical compounds play a crucial role in the survival and reproduction of insects, with CHCs being essential for desiccation resistance and chemical communication. Understanding the genetic basis of species variation in CHCs is important for reproductive success and isolation between species. The gene CG5946 has been identified as a new candidate locus contributing to species-specific variation in CHC profiles.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Mackenzie R. Lovegrove, Peter K. Dearden, Elizabeth J. Duncan
Summary: Eusocial insect societies are characterized by reproductive division of labour maintained by reproductive dominants or queens. Queen mandibular pheromone (QMP), produced by queen honeybees, can inhibit worker reproduction and also has effects on non-target arthropods. In Drosophila melanogaster, QMP treatment mimics the starvation response, leading to reduced reproduction and changes in ovary function. These findings suggest that QMP evolved by co-opting nutrition signalling pathways to regulate reproduction.
INSECT BIOCHEMISTRY AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Microbiology
Taisuke Seike, Natsue Sakata, Fumio Matsuda, Chikara Furusawa
Summary: This study compared the growth and mating phenotypes of 17 wild strains of the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces japonicus, and found that strains isolated from Drosophila sporulated at high frequency even under nitrogen-abundant conditions, suggesting that insects like Drosophila might be a suitable niche for mating and sporulation of S. japonicus. The results also indicated frequent crossing between S. japonicus cells of different genetic backgrounds in the insect, providing insights into yeast ecology and evolution.
Article
Neurosciences
Nobuaki K. Tanaka, Takashi Hirao, Hikaru Chida, Aki Ejima
Summary: The study revealed that the courtship behavior in male fruit flies is mediated by specific neurons, which respond to multimodal sensory stimuli and lead to a fixed sequence of behaviors. Furthermore, male flies are able to suppress or promote their courtship actions by receiving specific olfactory stimuli through neurons when in contact with females.
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Istvan Taisz, Erika Dona, Daniel Munch, Shanice N. Bailey, Billy J. Morris, Kimberly I. Meechan, Katie M. Stevens, Irene Varela-Martinez, Marina Gkantia, Philipp Schlegel, Carlos Ribeiro, Gregory S. X. E. Jefferis, Dana S. Galili
Summary: In Drosophila, a specific olfactory channel processes male pheromones, promoting female courtship and repelling males. The processing streams extract qualitative and positional information, with sensory neurons and projection neurons encoding concentration differences and angular positions of males. The third circuit layer consists of 47 cell types with diverse input-output connectivity, enabling behavioral responses in specific ethological contexts through multisensory integration.
Article
Biology
Marta Scalzotto, Renny Ng, Steeve Cruchet, Michael Saina, Jan Armida, Chih-Ying Su, Richard Benton
Summary: This study identifies hundreds of genes selectively enriched in either the odorant receptor or ionotropic receptor subsystems in the Drosophila melanogaster antennae. The study also reveals that neuronal genes other than sensory receptors are broadly expressed within the subsystems, while many non-neuronal genes show highly selective expression. Furthermore, a specific non-neuronal molecule called Osiris 8 is found to play a crucial role in high sensitivity responses to pheromone ligands in the olfactory subsystems.
Article
Biology
Pramit Bandyopadhyay, Silke Sachse
Summary: This review discusses the encoding of odor mixtures in the Drosophila melanogaster olfactory system and provides an overview of recent findings and challenges in this field.
CURRENT OPINION IN INSECT SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Xiaolu Wan, Peng Shen, Kai Shi, Jing Li, Fengming Wu, Chuan Zhou
Summary: Females increase aggression for mating opportunities and acquiring reproductive resources. Virgin female Drosophila exhibit high-frequency attacks towards mated females, which is regulated by the male-derived pheromone 11-cis-vaccenyl acetate (cVA). A neural circuit consisting of four orders of neurons mediates the cVA-induced aggression in Drosophila females, with the release of acetylcholine (ACh) by aSP-g neurons exciting pC1 neurons.
NEUROSCIENCE BULLETIN
(2023)
Article
Agronomy
Hao Guo, Xin-Lin Gong, Guo-Cheng Li, Bao-Tong Mo, Nan-Ji Jiang, Ling-Qiao Huang, Chen-Zhu Wang
Summary: In this study, six PRs were identified through transcriptome sequencing in the fall armyworm, showing varying responses to major and minor sex pheromone components. It was confirmed that S. frugiperda uses both SfruOR56 and SfruOR62 to detect the minor sex pheromone component Z7-12:Ac. Additionally, four sensilla types responsible for detecting pheromone compounds were characterized using single sensillum recording.
PEST MANAGEMENT SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Biology
Giovanni Frighetto, Mark A. Frye
Summary: Drosophila uses smooth optomotor movements to stabilize gaze and impulsive saccades to pursue vertical bars, with T4 and T5 cells providing inputs for gaze stabilization and T3 cells driving bar tracking body saccades. Silencing T3 reduces tracking saccades, while optogenetic manipulation affects saccade rate. Smooth optomotor responses remain unaffected. Parallel neural pathways coordinate gaze stabilization and saccadic bar tracking behavior in flight.
Article
Neurosciences
Artyom Kopp, Olga Barmina
Summary: Drosophila males use leg gustatory bristles to distinguish between male and female cuticular pheromones, which plays a crucial role in courtship behavior. Different Drosophila species have varying numbers and locations of sex-specific gustatory bristles, influencing sexual dimorphism and the evolution of mating behavior.
JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE NEUROLOGY
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Hao Guo, Bao-Tong Mo, Guo-Cheng Li, Zi-Lin Li, Ling-Qiao Huang, Ya-Lan Sun, Jun-Feng Dong, Dean P. Smith, Chen-Zhu Wang
Summary: This study identifies the sex pheromone and elucidates the olfactory basis of sex pheromone communication in Campoletis chlorideae, a parasitoid wasp. It demonstrates the importance of specific receptors in male attraction and mating behavior, and also shows the synergistic effects of the sex pheromone and a female attractant in increasing the parasitic efficiency of the wasp.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Hao Guo, Ling-Qiao Huang, Xin-Lin Gong, Chen-Zhu Wang
Summary: Researchers compared the function of pheromone receptors (PRs) in Helicoverpa armigera and H. assulta by expressing their PR repertoires in Drosophila T1 neurons. All PRs of the two species, except for OR11, have been deorphanized using a Drosophila expression system and a large panel of pheromone compounds. This study provides a valuable reference for understanding the peripheral coding of pheromones.
INSECT BIOCHEMISTRY AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Agronomy
Yun-Ying Zhang, Teng-Fei Bai, Jin-Meng Guo, Zhi-Qiang Wei, Si-Ruo Liu, Yu He, Jing-Jing Ye, Qi Yan, Jin Zhang, Shuang-Lin Dong
Summary: The study revealed functional differentiations among three PBPs and six PRs in sex pheromone perception in Mythimna loreyi, laying an important basis for understanding the molecular mechanism of sex pheromone perception and developing new control strategies. The findings from electroantennogram assay, fluorescence competition binding assay, and functional study using the Xenopus oocyte system provided insights into the sensitivity of M. loreyi to different pheromone components. Phylogenetic comparison of PRs among different species suggested functional shifts of M. loreyi PRs toward Spodoptera PRs.
PEST MANAGEMENT SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Ben Sutcliffe, Julian Ng, Thomas O. Auer, Mathias Pasche, Richard Benton, Gregory S. X. E. Jefferis, Sebastian Cachero
Article
Neurosciences
Johannes Kohl, Catherine Dulac
CURRENT OPINION IN NEUROBIOLOGY
(2018)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Johannes Kohl, Benedicte M. Babayan, Nimrod D. Rubinstein, Anita E. Autry, Brenda Marin-Rodriguez, Vikrant Kapoor, Kazunari Miyamishi, Larry S. Zweifel, Liqun Luo, Naoshige Uchida, Catherine Dulac
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Geoffrey W. Meissner, Jonathan B. Grimm, Rebecca M. Johnston, Ben Sutcliffe, Julian Ng, Gregory S. X. E. Jefferis, Sebastian Cachero, Luke D. Lavis, Oz Malkesman
Article
Cell Biology
Sonia G. Chin, Sarah E. Maguire, Paavo Huoviala, Gregory S. X. E. Jefferis, Christopher J. Potter
Editorial Material
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Johannes Kohl
Editorial Material
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Dana S. Galili, Gregory S. X. E. Jefferis
Article
Biology
Shahar Frechter, Alexander Shakeel Bates, Sina Tootoonian, Michael-John Dolan, James Manton, Arian Rokkum Jamasb, Johannes Kohl, Davi Bock, Gregory Jefferis
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Alexander S. Bates, Philipp Schlegel, Ruairi J. Roberts, Nikolas Drummond, Imaan F. M. Tamimi, Robert Turnbull, Xincheng Zhao, Elizabeth C. Marin, Patricia D. Popovici, Serene Dhawan, Arian Jamasb, Alexandre Javier, Laia Serratosa Capdevila, Feng Li, Gerald M. Rubin, Scott Waddell, Davi D. Bock, Marta Costa, Gregory S. X. E. Jefferis
Article
Biology
Louis K. Scheffer, C. Shan Xu, Michal Januszewski, Zhiyuan Lu, Shin-ya Takemura, Kenneth J. Hayworth, Gary B. Huang, Kazunori Shinomiya, Jeremy Maitlin-Shepard, Stuart Berg, Jody Clements, Philip M. Hubbard, William T. Katz, Lowell Umayam, Ting Zhao, David Ackerman, Tim Blakely, John Bogovic, Tom Dolafi, Dagmar Kainmueller, Takashi Kawase, Khaled A. Khairy, Laramie Leavitt, Peter H. Li, Larry Lindsey, Nicole Neubarth, Donald J. Olbris, Hideo Otsuna, Eric T. Trautman, Masayoshi Ito, Alexander S. Bates, Jens Goldammer, Tanya Wolff, Robert Svirskas, Philipp Schlegel, Erika Neace, Christopher J. Knecht, Chelsea X. Alvarado, Dennis A. Bailey, Samantha Ballinger, Jolanta A. Borycz, Brandon S. Canino, Natasha Cheatham, Michael Cook, Marisa Dreher, Octave Duclos, Bryon Eubanks, Kelli Fairbanks, Samantha Finley, Nora Forknall, Audrey Francis, Gary Patrick Hopkins, Emily M. Joyce, SungJin Kim, Nicole A. Kirk, Julie Kovalyak, Shirley A. Lauchie, Alanna Lohff, Charli Maldonado, Emily A. Manley, Sari McLin, Caroline Mooney, Miatta Ndama, Omotara Ogundeyi, Nneoma Okeoma, Christopher Ordish, Nicholas Padilla, Christopher M. Patrick, Tyler Paterson, Elliott E. Phillips, Emily M. Phillips, Neha Rampally, Caitlin Ribeiro, Madelaine K. Robertson, Jon Thomson Rymer, Sean M. Ryan, Megan Sammons, Anne K. Scott, Ashley L. Scott, Aya Shinomiya, Claire Smith, Kelsey Smith, Natalie L. Smith, Margaret A. Sobeski, Alia Suleiman, Jackie Swift, Satoko Takemura, Iris Talebi, Dorota Tarnogorska, Emily Tenshaw, Temour Tokhi, John J. Walsh, Tansy Yang, Jane Anne Horne, Feng Li, Ruchi Parekh, Patricia K. Rivlin, Vivek Jayaraman, Marta Costa, Gregory S. X. E. Jefferis, Kei Ito, Stephan Saalfeld, Reed George, Ian A. Meinertzhagen, Gerald M. Rubin, Harald F. Hess, Viren Jain, Stephen M. Plaza
Editorial Material
Biology
Neven Borak, Johannes Kohl
Article
Biology
Anita E. Autry, Zheng Wu, Vikrant Kapoor, Johannes Kohl, Dhananjay Bambah-Mukku, Nimrod D. Rubinstein, Brenda Marin-Rodriguez, Ilaria Carta, Victoria Sedwick, Ming Tang, Catherine Dulac
Summary: Recent studies have revealed the activation of urocortin-3 (Ucn3)-expressing neurons in the hypothalamic perifornical area during infant-directed aggression, highlighting their role in the negative control of parenting. These neurons receive input from vomeronasal sensing, stress, and parenting-related areas, and their optogenetic activation triggers various infant-directed agonistic responses. Overall, these findings shed light on a dedicated neural circuit component involved in the regulation of infant-directed neglect and aggression.
Article
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
Bradley B. Jamieson, Xavier Cano-Ferrer, George Konstantinou, Elisa de Launoit, Nicolas Renier, Albane Imbert, Johannes Kohl
Summary: Studying the development of neural circuits in rodent models often requires surgical access to the neonatal brain, which can be challenging due to the lack of suitable stereotaxic and anesthetic equipment for young animals. The authors have developed an affordable and easy-to-construct device called CryoPup, which allows for rapid and reliable cryoanesthesia of rodent pups. CryoPup is compatible with common stereotaxic frames and has been validated for use in neonatal mice, offering a valuable tool for future studies on postnatal brain development.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Rachida Ammari, Francesco Monaca, Mingran Cao, Estelle Nassar, Patty Wai, Nicholas A. Del Grosso, Matthew Lee, Neven Borak, Deborah Schneider-Luftman, Johannes Kohl
Summary: During pregnancy, physiological adaptations prepare the female body for motherhood, and pregnancy hormones remodel parenting circuits in anticipation of future behavioral needs.
