Sight of parasitoid wasps accelerates sexual behavior and upregulates a micropeptide gene in Drosophila

Parasitoid wasps inflict widespread death upon the insect world. Hundreds of thousands of parasitoid wasp species kill a vast range of insect species. Insects have evolved defensive responses to the threat of wasps, some cellular and some behavioral. Here we find an unexpected response of adult Dros...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature communications Vol. 12; no. 1; pp. 2453 - 11
Main Authors: Ebrahim, Shimaa A. M., Talross, Gaëlle J. S., Carlson, John R.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 27.04.2021
Nature Publishing Group
Nature Portfolio
Subjects:
38/91
631/158/856
631/181/2481
631/378/3920
631/378/87
64/24
Adaptation, Physiological
Amino acids
Animals
Animals, Genetically Modified
beta-Carotene 15,15'-Monooxygenase - genetics
beta-Carotene 15,15'-Monooxygenase - metabolism
Carnivory - physiology
Drosophila
Drosophila - genetics
Drosophila - metabolism
Drosophila - parasitology
Drosophila melanogaster - genetics
Drosophila melanogaster - metabolism
Drosophila melanogaster - parasitology
Drosophila Proteins - deficiency
Drosophila Proteins - genetics
Drosophila Proteins - metabolism
Drosophila simulans - genetics
Drosophila simulans - metabolism
Drosophila simulans - parasitology
Female
Fertility - genetics
Fruit flies
Gene expression
Gene Expression Regulation
Host-parasite interactions
Humanities and Social Sciences
Insects
Male
Mating behavior
multidisciplinary
Nervous system
Neurons - cytology
Neurons - metabolism
Parasitoids
Pattern Recognition, Visual - physiology
Receptors, Ionotropic Glutamate - deficiency
Receptors, Ionotropic Glutamate - genetics
Receptors, Odorant - deficiency
Receptors, Odorant - genetics
Reproduction (biology)
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Sexual behavior
Sexual Behavior, Animal - physiology
Species
Visual flight
Visual pathways
Visual perception
Wasps - pathogenicity
Wasps - physiology
ISSN:2041-1723, 2041-1723
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Parasitoid wasps inflict widespread death upon the insect world. Hundreds of thousands of parasitoid wasp species kill a vast range of insect species. Insects have evolved defensive responses to the threat of wasps, some cellular and some behavioral. Here we find an unexpected response of adult Drosophila to the presence of certain parasitoid wasps: accelerated mating behavior. Flies exposed to certain wasp species begin mating more quickly. The effect is mediated via changes in the behavior of the female fly and depends on visual perception. The sight of wasps induces the dramatic upregulation in the fly nervous system of a gene that encodes a 41-amino acid micropeptide. Mutational analysis reveals that the gene is essential to the behavioral response of the fly. Our work provides a foundation for further exploration of how the activation of visual circuits by the sight of a wasp alters both sexual behavior and gene expression. Parasitoids exploit host bodies for reproduction, selecting for host defences. A new host defence is reported, in which adult Drosophila accelerate mating behaviour at the sight of certain parasitoid wasps, mediated by the upregulation of a nervous system gene that encodes a 41-amino acid micropeptide.
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ISSN:2041-1723
2041-1723
DOI:10.1038/s41467-021-22712-0