Dispensable, redundant, complementary, and cooperative roles of dopamine, octopamine, and serotonin in Drosophila melanogaster.

ABSTRACT: To investigate the regulation of Drosophila melanogaster behavior by biogenic amines, we have exploited the broad requirement of the vesicular monoamine transporter (VMAT) for the vesicular storage and exocytotic release of all monoamine neurotransmitters. We used the Drosophila VMAT (dVMAT) null mutant to globally ablate exocytotic amine release and then restored DVMAT activity in either individual or multiple aminergic systems, using transgenic rescue techniques. We find that larval survival, larval locomotion, and female fertility rely predominantly on octopaminergic circuits with little apparent input from the vesicular release of serotonin or dopamine. In contrast, male courtship and fertility can be rescued by expressing DVMAT in octopaminergic or dopaminergic neurons, suggesting pot

SUBMITTER: Chen A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3527243 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature