What does the fruitless gene tell us about nature vs. nurture in the sex life of Drosophila?
The fruitless (fru) gene in Drosophila has been proposed to play a master regulator role in the formation of neural circuitries for male courtship behavior, which is typically considered to be an innate behavior composed of a fixed action pattern as generated by the central pattern generator. Howeve...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Taylor & Francis Group
2017-04-01
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| Series: | Fly |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19336934.2016.1263778 |
| Summary: | The fruitless (fru) gene in Drosophila has been proposed to play a master regulator role in the formation of neural circuitries for male courtship behavior, which is typically considered to be an innate behavior composed of a fixed action pattern as generated by the central pattern generator. However, recent studies have shed light on experience-dependent changes and sensory-input-guided plasticity in courtship behavior. For example, enhanced male-male courtship, a fru mutant “hallmark,” disappears when fru-mutant males are raised in isolation. The fact that neural fru expression is induced by neural activities in the adult invites the supposition that Fru as a chromatin regulator mediates experience-dependent epigenetic modification, which underlies the neural and behavioral plasticity. |
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| ISSN: | 1933-6934 1933-6942 |