A neuropeptide regulates fighting behavior in Drosophila melanogaster
Fengming Wu,
Bowen Deng,
Na Xiao,
Tao Wang,
Yining Li,
Rencong Wang,
Kai Shi,
Dong-Gen Luo,
Yi Rao,
Chuan Zhou
Affiliations
Fengming Wu
State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
Bowen Deng
Chinese Institute for Brain Research, Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Zhongguangchun Life Sciences Park, Beijing, China; Institute of Molecular Physiology, Shenzhen Bay Laboratory, Shenzhen, China
State Key Laboratory of Membrane Biology, College of Life Sciences, IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Center for Quantitative Biology, Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Peking University, Beijing, China
Tao Wang
State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; School of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China
Yining Li
Chinese Institute for Brain Research, Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Zhongguangchun Life Sciences Park, Beijing, China; Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Advanced Innovation Center for Genomics, Peking University School of Life Sciences, Beijing, China
Rencong Wang
State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
Kai Shi
State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
Dong-Gen Luo
Institute of Molecular Physiology, Shenzhen Bay Laboratory, Shenzhen, China; State Key Laboratory of Membrane Biology, College of Life Sciences, IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Center for Quantitative Biology, Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Peking University, Beijing, China
Chinese Institute for Brain Research, Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Zhongguangchun Life Sciences Park, Beijing, China; Institute of Molecular Physiology, Shenzhen Bay Laboratory, Shenzhen, China; Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Advanced Innovation Center for Genomics, Peking University School of Life Sciences, Beijing, China
State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; Institute of Molecular Physiology, Shenzhen Bay Laboratory, Shenzhen, China
Aggressive behavior is regulated by various neuromodulators such as neuropeptides and biogenic amines. Here we found that the neuropeptide Drosulfakinin (Dsk) modulates aggression in Drosophila melanogaster. Knock-out of Dsk or Dsk receptor CCKLR-17D1 reduced aggression. Activation and inactivation of Dsk-expressing neurons increased and decreased male aggressive behavior, respectively. Moreover, data from transsynaptic tracing, electrophysiology and behavioral epistasis reveal that Dsk-expressing neurons function downstream of a subset of P1 neurons (P1a-splitGAL4) to control fighting behavior. In addition, winners show increased calcium activity in Dsk-expressing neurons. Conditional overexpression of Dsk promotes social dominance, suggesting a positive correlation between Dsk signaling and winning effects. The mammalian ortholog CCK has been implicated in mammal aggression, thus our work suggests a conserved neuromodulatory system for the modulation of aggressive behavior.
