PLoS Biology (Apr 2021)

Stress and odorant receptor feedback during a critical period after hatching regulates olfactory sensory neuron differentiation in Drosophila.

  • Shadi Jafari,
  • Johan Henriksson,
  • Hua Yan,
  • Mattias Alenius

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3001101
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 19, no. 4
p. e3001101

Abstract

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Here, we reveal that the regulation of Drosophila odorant receptor (OR) expression during the pupal stage is permissive and imprecise. We found that directly after hatching an OR feedback mechanism both directs and refines OR expression. We demonstrate that, as in mice, dLsd1 and Su(var)3-9 balance heterochromatin formation to direct OR expression. We show that the expressed OR induces dLsd1 and Su(var)3-9 expression, linking OR level and possibly function to OR expression. OR expression refinement shows a restricted duration, suggesting that a gene regulatory critical period brings olfactory sensory neuron differentiation to an end. Consistent with a change in differentiation, stress during the critical period represses dLsd1 and Su(var)3-9 expression and makes the early permissive OR expression permanent. This induced permissive gene regulatory state makes OR expression resilient to stress later in life. Hence, during a critical period OR feedback, similar to in mouse OR selection, defines adult OR expression in Drosophila.