Abstract
The Drosophila fruitless (fru) gene is regarded as a master regulator of the formation of male courtship circuitry, yet little is known about its molecular basis of action. We show that roundabout 1 (robo1) knockdown in females promotes formation of the male-specific neurite in sexually dimorphic mAL interneurons and that overexpression of the male-specific FruBM diminishes the expression of Robo1 in the fly brain. Our electrophoretic mobility shift and reporter assays identify the 42-bp segment encompassing the palindrome sequence T T C G C T G C G C C G T G A A in the 5′ UTR of robo1 exon1 as the FruBM-responsive element. We find that ∼10-bp deletions in the palindrome sequence induce a loss of the male-specific neurite and disrupt male courtship patterns. This study paves the way for a thorough understanding of the mechanism whereby Fru proteins orchestrate transcription for the formation of courtship circuitry.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 1532-1542 |
Number of pages | 11 |
Journal | Current Biology |
Volume | 26 |
Issue number | 12 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2016 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology(all)
- Agricultural and Biological Sciences(all)