Papers

International journal
Apr, 2024

Interactive parallel sex pheromone circuits that promote and suppress courtship behaviors in the cockroach.

PNAS nexus
  • Kosuke Tateishi
  • ,
  • Takayuki Watanabe
  • ,
  • Mana Domae
  • ,
  • Atsushi Ugajin
  • ,
  • Hiroshi Nishino
  • ,
  • Hiroyuki Nakagawa
  • ,
  • Makoto Mizunami
  • ,
  • Hidehiro Watanabe

Volume
3
Number
4
First page
pgae162
Last page
Language
English
Publishing type
Research paper (scientific journal)
DOI
10.1093/pnasnexus/pgae162

Many animals use multicomponent sex pheromones for mating, but the specific function and neural processing of each pheromone component remain unclear. The cockroach Periplaneta americana is a model for studying sex pheromone communication, and an adult female emits major and minor sex pheromone components, periplanone-B and -A (PB and PA), respectively. Attraction and courtship behaviors (wing-raising and abdominal extension) are strongly expressed when adult males are exposed to PB but weakly expressed when they are exposed to PA. When major PB is presented together with minor PA, behaviors elicited by PB were impaired, indicating that PA can both promote and suppress courtship behaviors depending on the pheromonal context. In this study, we identified the receptor genes for PA and PB and investigated the effects of knocking down each receptor gene on the activities of PA- and PB-responsive sensory neurons (PA- and PB-SNs), and their postsynaptic interneurons, and as well as effects on courtship behaviors in males. We found that PB strongly and PA weakly activate PB-SNs and their postsynaptic neurons, and activation of the PB-processing pathway is critical for the expression of courtship behaviors. PA also activates PA-SNs and the PA-processing pathway. When PA and PB are simultaneously presented, the PB-processing pathway undergoes inhibitory control by the PA-processing pathway, which weakens the expression of courtship behaviors. Our data indicate that physiological interactions between the PA- and PB-processing pathways positively and negatively mediate the attraction and courtship behaviors elicited by sex pheromones.

Link information
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgae162
PubMed
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/38689705
PubMed Central
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11058470
ID information
  • DOI : 10.1093/pnasnexus/pgae162
  • Pubmed ID : 38689705
  • Pubmed Central ID : PMC11058470

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