Sight of parasitoid wasps accelerates sexual behavior and upregulates a micropeptide gene in Drosophila.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 33907186.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-021-22712-0 and PMC identifier 8079388.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Parasitoid wasps inflict widespread death upon the insect world. Hundreds of thousands of parasitoid wasp species kill a vast range of insect species. Insects have evolved defensive responses to the threat of wasps, some cellular and some behavioral. Here we find an unexpected response of adult Drosophila to the presence of certain parasitoid wasps: accelerated mating behavior. Flies exposed to certain wasp species begin mating more quickly. The effect is mediated via changes in the behavior of the female fly and depends on visual perception. The sight of wasps induces the dramatic upregulation in the fly nervous system of a gene that encodes a 41-amino acid micropeptide. Mutational analysis reveals that the gene is essential to the behavioral response of the fly. Our work provides a foundation for further exploration of how the activation of visual circuits by the sight of a wasp alters both sexual behavior and gene expression.
Medical subject headings
- Drosophila
- Drosophila Proteins
- Drosophila melanogaster
- Drosophila simulans
- Receptors, Ionotropic Glutamate
- Receptors, Odorant
- Sexual Behavior, Animal
- Wasps