Cholinergic neurons mediate CaMKII-dependent enhancement of courtship suppression
Abstract
In Drosophila, calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) activity is crucial in associative courtship conditioning for both memory formation and suppression of courtship during training with a mated female. We have previously shown that increasing levels of constitutively active CaMKII, but not calcium-dependent CaMKII, in a subset of neurons can decrease the initial level of courtship and enhance the rate of suppression of courtship in response to a mated female. In this study, we demonstrate that a subpopulation of noncholinergic, nondopaminergic, non-GABAergic neurons can cause CaMKII-dependent reductions in initial courtship, but only cholinergic neurons enhance training-dependent suppression. These data suggest that processing of pheromonal signals in two subpopulations of neurons, likely antennal lobe projection neurons, is critical for behavioral plasticity.
Footnotes
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↵2 Corresponding author.
↵2 E-mail griffith{at}brandeis.edu; fax (781) 736-3107.
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↵1 Present address: Laboratory of Neurogenetics and Behavior, The Rockefeller University, New York, New York 10021-6399, USA.
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Article published online before print. Article and publication date are at http://www.learnmem.org/cgi/doi/10.1101/lm.317806
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- Received May 11, 2006.
- Accepted July 18, 2006.
- Copyright © 2006, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press