| Title: | Aggression and courtship in Drosophila: pheromonal communication and sex recognition |
| Author(s): | Fernandez MP; Kravitz EA; |
| Address: | "Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA, mariadelapax@gmail.com" |
| Journal Title: | J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol |
| DOI: | 10.1007/s00359-013-0851-5 |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1432-1351 (Electronic) 0340-7594 (Print) 0340-7594 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "Upon encountering a conspecific in the wild, males have to rapidly detect, integrate and process the most relevant signals to evoke an appropriate behavioral response. Courtship and aggression are the most important social behaviors in nature for procreation and survival: for males, making the right choice between the two depends on the ability to identify the sex of the other individual. In flies as in most species, males court females and attack other males. Although many sensory modalities are involved in sex recognition, chemosensory communication mediated by specific molecules that serve as pheromones plays a key role in helping males distinguish between courtship and aggression targets. The chemosensory signals used by flies include volatile and non-volatile compounds, detected by the olfactory and gustatory systems. Recently, several putative olfactory and gustatory receptors have been identified that play key roles in sex recognition, allowing investigators to begin to map the neuronal circuits that convey this sensory information to higher processing centers in the brain. Here, we describe how Drosophila melanogaster males use taste and smell to make correct behavioral choices" |
| Keywords: | "Afferent Pathways/physiology Aggression/*physiology Animals Choice Behavior *Courtship Drosophila/physiology Female Male *Pheromones Recognition, Psychology/*physiology;" |
| Notes: | "MedlineFernandez, Maria Paz Kravitz, Edward A eng R01 GM074675/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ R01 GM099883/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ Review Germany 2013/09/18 J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol. 2013 Nov; 199(11):1065-76. doi: 10.1007/s00359-013-0851-5. Epub 2013 Sep 17" |
