Sex-determining genes distinctly regulate courtship capability and target preference via sexually dimorphic neurons.

ABSTRACT: For successful mating, a male animal must execute effective courtship behaviors toward a receptive target sex, which is female. Whether the courtship execution capability and upregulation of courtship toward females are specified through separable sex-determining genetic pathways remains uncharacterized. Here, we found that one of the two Drosophila sex-determining genes, doublesex (dsx), specifies a male-specific neuronal component that serves as an execution mechanism for courtship behavior, whereas fruitless (fru) is required for enhancement of courtship behavior toward females. The dsx-dependent courtship execution mechanism includes a specific subclass within a neuronal cluster that co-express dsx and fru. This cluster contains a

SUBMITTER: Ishii K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7173972 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature