Mating alters gene expression patterns in Drosophila melanogaster male heads

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Behavior is a complex process resulting from the integration of genetic and environmental information. <it>Drosophila melanogaster </it>rely on multiple sensory modalities for reproductive success, and mating causes physiological changes in both sexes that affect reproductive output or behavior. Some of these effects are likely mediated by changes in gene expression. Courtship and mating alter female transcript profiles, but it is not known how mating affects male gene expression.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We used <it>Drosophila </it>genome arrays to identify changes in gene expression profiles that occur in mated male heads. Forty-seven genes differed between mated and control heads 2 hrs post mating. Many mating-responsive genes are highly expressed in non-neural head tissues, including an adipose tissue called the fat body. One fat body-enriched gene, <it>female-specific independent of transformer </it>(<it>fit</it>), is a downstream target of the somatic sex-determination hierarchy, a genetic pathway that regulates <it>Drosophila</it> reproductive behaviors as well as expression of some fat-expressed genes; three other mating-responsive loci are also downstream components of this pathway. Another mating-responsive gene expressed in fat, <it>Juvenile hormone esterase </it>(<it>Jhe</it>), is necessary for robust male courtship behavior and mating success.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our study demonstrates that mating causes changes in male head gene expression profiles and supports an increasing body of work implicating adipose signaling in behavior modulation. Since several mating-induced genes are sex-determination hierarchy target genes, additional mating-responsive loci may be downstream components of this pathway as well.</p

Critical neuropsychobiological analysis of panic attack- and anticipatory anxiety-like behaviors in rodents confronted with snakes in polygonal arenas and complex labyrinths: a comparison to the elevated plus- and T-maze behavioral tests

Objective: To compare prey and snake paradigms performed in complex environments to the elevated plus-maze (EPM) and T-maze (ETM) tests for the study of panic attack- and anticipatory anxiety-like behaviors in rodents. Methods: PubMed was reviewed in search of articles focusing on the plus maze test, EPM, and ETM, as well as on defensive behaviors displayed by threatened rodents. In addition, the authors&#8217; research with polygonal arenas and complex labyrinth (designed by the first author for confrontation between snakes and small rodents) was examined. Results: The EPM and ETM tests evoke anxiety/fear-related defensive responses that are pharmacologically validated, whereas the confrontation between rodents and snakes in polygonal arenas with or without shelters or in the complex labyrinth offers ethological conditions for studying more complex defensive behaviors and the effects of anxiolytic and panicolytic drugs. Prey vs. predator paradigms also allow discrimination between non-oriented and oriented escape behavior. Conclusions: Both EPM and ETM simple labyrinths are excellent apparatuses for the study of anxiety- and instinctive fear-related responses, respectively. The confrontation between rodents and snakes in polygonal arenas, however, offers a more ethological environment for addressing both unconditioned and conditioned fear-induced behaviors and the effects of anxiolytic and panicolytic drugs