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Hormonal control of motivational circuitry orchestrates the transition to sexuality in Drosophila

Stephen X. Zhang, Ethan H. Glantz, Dragana Rogulja, Michael A. Crickmore
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/852335
Stephen X. Zhang
Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115
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Ethan H. Glantz
FM Kirby Neurobiology Center, Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115
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Dragana Rogulja
Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115
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  • For correspondence: Dragana_Rogulja@hms.harvard.edu Michael.Crickmore@childrens.harvard.edu
Michael A. Crickmore
FM Kirby Neurobiology Center, Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115
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  • For correspondence: Dragana_Rogulja@hms.harvard.edu Michael.Crickmore@childrens.harvard.edu
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SUMMARY

Newborns and hatchlings of many species perform incredibly sophisticated behaviors, but all vertebrates and many invertebrates selectively abstain from sexual activity at the beginning of life. Hormonal changes have long been associated with adolescence, but it is not clear how these circulating factors create a new motivation and drive its associated behaviors. We show that the transition to sexuality in male Drosophila is controlled by juvenile hormone, which spikes at eclosion and declines over days as the propensity for courtship gradually increases. Juvenile hormone directly inhibits the activity of at least three courtship-motivating circuit elements, ensuring the complete suppression of sexual motivation and behavior. Blocking or overriding these inhibitory mechanisms evokes immediate and robust sexual behavior from very young and otherwise asexual males. These results provide a first example of hormonal changes gating the transition to sexuality by activating latent, but largely developed and functional, motivational circuitry.

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The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission.
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Posted November 23, 2019.
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Hormonal control of motivational circuitry orchestrates the transition to sexuality in Drosophila
Stephen X. Zhang, Ethan H. Glantz, Dragana Rogulja, Michael A. Crickmore
bioRxiv 852335; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/852335
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Hormonal control of motivational circuitry orchestrates the transition to sexuality in Drosophila
Stephen X. Zhang, Ethan H. Glantz, Dragana Rogulja, Michael A. Crickmore
bioRxiv 852335; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/852335

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