Title: | Alcohol potentiates a pheromone signal in flies |
Author(s): | Park A; Tran T; Scheuermann EA; Smith DP; Atkinson NS; |
Address: | "Department of Neuroscience and Waggoner Center for Alcohol and Addiction Research, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, United States. Department of Pharmacology and Neuroscience, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, United States" |
ISSN/ISBN: | 2050-084X (Electronic) 2050-084X (Linking) |
Abstract: | "For decades, numerous researchers have documented the presence of the fruit fly or Drosophila melanogaster on alcohol-containing food sources. Although fruit flies are a common laboratory model organism of choice, there is relatively little understood about the ethological relationship between flies and ethanol. In this study, we find that when male flies inhabit ethanol-containing food substrates they become more aggressive. We identify a possible mechanism for this behavior. The odor of ethanol potentiates the activity of sensory neurons in response to an aggression-promoting pheromone. Finally, we observed that the odor of ethanol also promotes attraction to a food-related citrus odor. Understanding how flies interact with the complex natural environment they inhabit can provide valuable insight into how different natural stimuli are integrated to promote fundamental behaviors" |
Keywords: | "Aggression Animals Behavior, Animal Drosophila melanogaster/*physiology Ethanol/*metabolism Female Male Odorants/analysis Pheromones/*metabolism D.melanogaster cis-vaccenyl acetate complex environment neuroscience odor mixture or67d social behavior;" |
Notes: | "MedlinePark, Annie Tran, Tracy Scheuermann, Elizabeth A Smith, Dean P Atkinson, Nigel S eng F31 AA027160/AA/NIAAA NIH HHS/ T32 AA007471/AA/NIAAA NIH HHS/ 2R01AA01803706A1/AA/NIAAA NIH HHS/ 5T32GM008203/NH/NIH HHS/ R01 DC015230/DC/NIDCD NIH HHS/ R01 AA018037/AA/NIAAA NIH HHS/ T32 GM008203/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ T32AA07471/AA/NIAAA NIH HHS/ Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural England 2020/11/04 Elife. 2020 Nov 3; 9:e59853. doi: 10.7554/eLife.59853" |