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    Neuron. 2009 Feb 26;61(4):519-26.

    Control of the postmating behavioral switch in Drosophila females by internal sensory neurons.

    Yang CH, Rumpf S, Xiang Y, Gordon MD, Song W, Jan LY, Jan YN.

    Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Physiology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA.

    Comment in:

    Mating induces changes in the receptivity and egg-laying behavior in Drosophila females, primarily due to a peptide pheromone called sex peptide which is transferred with the sperm into the female reproductive tract during copulation. Whereas sex peptide is generally believed to modulate fruitless-GAL4-expressing neurons in the central nervous system to produce behavioral changes, we found that six to eight sensory neurons on the reproductive tract labeled by both ppk-GAL4 and fruitless-GAL4 can sense sex peptide to control the induction of postmating behaviors. In these sensory neurons, sex peptide appears to act through Pertussis toxin-sensitive G proteins and suppression of protein kinase A activity to reduce synaptic output. Our results uncover a neuronal mechanism by which sex peptide exerts its control over reproductive behaviors in Drosophila females.

    PMID: 19249273 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

    PMCID: 2748846

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