A volatile sex attractant of tsetse flies.

Tsetse flies transmit trypanosomes-parasites that cause devastating diseases in humans and livestock-across much of sub-Saharan Africa. Chemical communication through volatile pheromones is common among insects; however, it remains unknown if and how such chemical communication occurs in tsetse flies. We identified methyl palmitoleate (MPO), methyl oleate, and methyl palmitate as compounds that are produced by the tsetse fly Glossina morsitans and elicit strong behavioral responses. MPO evoked a behavioral response in male-but not virgin female-G. morsitans. G. morsitans males mounted females of another species, Glossina fuscipes, when they were treated with MPO. We further identified a subpopulation of olfactory neurons in G. morsitans that increase their firing rate in response to MPO and showed that infecting flies with African trypanosomes alters the flies' chemical profile and mating behavior. The identification of volatile attractants in tsetse flies may be useful for reducing disease spread.

Ir56b is an atypical ionotropic receptor that underlies appetitive salt response in Drosophila.

Salt taste is one of the most ancient of all sensory modalities. However, the molecular basis of salt taste remains unclear in invertebrates. Here, we show that the response to low, appetitive salt concentrations in Drosophila depends on Ir56b, an atypical member of the ionotropic receptor (Ir) family. Ir56b acts in concert with two coreceptors, Ir25a and Ir76b. Mutation of Ir56b virtually eliminates an appetitive behavioral response to salt. Ir56b is expressed in neurons that also sense sugars via members of the Gr (gustatory receptor) family. Misexpression of Ir56b in bitter-sensing neurons confers physiological responses to appetitive doses of salt. Ir56b is unique among tuning Irs in containing virtually no N-terminal region, a feature that is evolutionarily conserved. Moreover, Ir56b is a "pseudo-pseudogene": its coding sequence contains a premature stop codon that can be replaced with a sense codon without loss of function. This stop codon is conserved among many Drosophila species but is absent in a number of species associated with cactus in arid regions. Thus, Ir56b serves the evolutionarily ancient function of salt detection in neurons that underlie both salt and sweet taste modalities.

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 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.

The molecular and cellular basis of olfactory response to tsetse fly attractants.

Dipteran or "true" flies occupy nearly every terrestrial habitat, and have evolved to feed upon a wide variety of sources including fruit, pollen, decomposing animal matter, and even vertebrate blood. Here we analyze the molecular, genetic and cellular basis of odor response in the tsetse fly Glossina morsitans, which feeds on the blood of humans and their livestock, and is a vector of deadly trypanosomes. The G. morsitans antenna contains specialized subtypes of sensilla, some of which line a sensory pit not found in the fruit fly Drosophila. We characterize distinct patterns of G. morsitans Odor receptor (GmmOr) gene expression in the antenna. We devise a new version of the "empty neuron" heterologous expression system, and use it to functionally express several GmmOrs in a mutant olfactory receptor neuron (ORN) of Drosophila. GmmOr35 responds to 1-hexen-3-ol, an odorant found in human emanations, and also alpha-pinene, a compound produced by malarial parasites. Another receptor, GmmOr9, which is expressed in the sensory pit, responds to acetone, 2-butanone and 2-propanol. We confirm by electrophysiological recording that neurons of the sensory pit respond to these odorants. Acetone and 2-butanone are strong attractants long used in the field to trap tsetse. We find that 2-propanol is also an attractant for both G. morsitans and the related species G. fuscipes, a major vector of African sleeping sickness. The results identify 2-propanol as a candidate for an environmentally friendly and practical tsetse attractant. Taken together, this work characterizes the olfactory system of a highly distinct kind of fly, and it provides an approach to identifying new agents for controlling the fly and the devastating diseases that it carries.

The Olfactory Logic behind Fruit Odor Preferences in Larval and Adult Drosophila.

Despite the comprehensive knowledge on odor coding, our understanding of the relationship between sensory input and behavioral output in Drosophila remains weak. Here, we measure the behavioral responses generated by larval and adult flies in response to 34 fruit odors and find that larval preference for fruit odors differs from that of adult flies. Next, we provide a functional analysis of the full repertoire of the peripheral olfactory system using the same comprehensive stimulus spectrum. We find that 90% and 53% of larval and adult olfactory receptors tested here, respectively, are involved in evaluating these fruit odors. Finally, we find that the total amount of olfactory neuronal activity correlates strongly positively with behavioral output in larvae and correlates weakly negatively in adult flies. Our results suggest that larval and adult flies have evolved different mechanisms for detection and computation of fruit odors, mechanisms likely mirroring the different lifestyles of both developmental stages.

Drosophila Avoids Parasitoids by Sensing Their Semiochemicals via a Dedicated Olfactory Circuit.

Detecting danger is one of the foremost tasks for a neural system. Larval parasitoids constitute clear danger to Drosophila, as up to 80% of fly larvae become parasitized in nature. We show that Drosophila melanogaster larvae and adults avoid sites smelling of the main parasitoid enemies, Leptopilina wasps. This avoidance is mediated via a highly specific olfactory sensory neuron (OSN) type. While the larval OSN expresses the olfactory receptor Or49a and is tuned to the Leptopilina odor iridomyrmecin, the adult expresses both Or49a and Or85f and in addition detects the wasp odors actinidine and nepetalactol. The information is transferred via projection neurons to a specific part of the lateral horn known to be involved in mediating avoidance. Drosophila has thus developed a dedicated circuit to detect a life-threatening enemy based on the smell of its semiochemicals. Such an enemy-detecting olfactory circuit has earlier only been characterized in mice and nematodes.

Pheromones mediating copulation and attraction in Drosophila.

Intraspecific olfactory signals known as pheromones play important roles in insect mating systems. In the model Drosophila melanogaster, a key part of the pheromone-detecting system has remained enigmatic through many years of research in terms of both its behavioral significance and its activating ligands. Here we show that Or47b-and Or88a-expressing olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs) detect the fly-produced odorants methyl laurate (ML), methyl myristate, and methyl palmitate. Fruitless (fru(M))-positive Or47b-expressing OSNs detect ML exclusively, and Or47b- and Or47b-expressing OSNs are required for optimal male copulation behavior. In addition, activation of Or47b-expressing OSNs in the male is sufficient to provide a competitive mating advantage. We further find that the vigorous male courtship displayed toward oenocyte-less flies is attributed to an oenocyte-independent sustained production of the Or47b ligand, ML. In addition, we reveal that Or88a-expressing OSNs respond to all three compounds, and that these neurons are necessary and sufficient for attraction behavior in both males and females. Beyond the OSN level, information regarding the three fly odorants is transferred from the antennal lobe to higher brain centers in two dedicated neural lines. Finally, we find that both Or47b- and Or88a-based systems and their ligands are remarkably conserved over a number of drosophilid species. Taken together, our results close a significant gap in the understanding of the olfactory background to Drosophila mating and attraction behavior; while reproductive isolation barriers between species are created mainly by species-specific signals, the mating enhancing signal in several Drosophila species is conserved.

Olfactory proxy detection of dietary antioxidants in Drosophila.

BACKGROUND: Dietary antioxidants play an important role in preventing oxidative stress. Whether animals in search of food or brood sites are able to judge the antioxidant content, and if so actively seek out resources with enriched antioxidant content, remains unclear. RESULTS: We show here that the vinegar fly Drosophila melanogaster detects the presence of hydroxycinnamic acids (HCAs)-potent dietary antioxidants abundant in fruit-via olfactory cues. Flies are unable to smell HCAs directly but are equipped with dedicated olfactory sensory neurons detecting yeast-produced ethylphenols that are exclusively derived from HCAs. These neurons are housed on the maxillary palps, express the odorant receptor Or71a, and are necessary and sufficient for proxy detection of HCAs. Activation of these neurons in adult flies induces positive chemotaxis, oviposition, and increased feeding. We further demonstrate that fly larvae also seek out yeast enriched with HCAs and that larvae use the same ethylphenol cues as the adults but rely for detection upon a larval unique odorant receptor (Or94b), which is co-expressed with a receptor (Or94a) detecting a general yeast volatile. We also show that the ethylphenols act as reliable cues for the presence of dietary antioxidants, as these volatiles are produced--upon supplementation of HCAs--by a wide range of yeasts known to be consumed by flies. CONCLUSIONS: For flies, dietary antioxidants are presumably important to counteract acute oxidative stress induced by consumption or by infection by entomopathogenic microorganisms. The ethylphenol pathway described here adds another layer to the fly's defensive arsenal against toxic microbes.

Olfactory preference for egg laying on citrus substrates in Drosophila.

BACKGROUND: Egg-laying animals, such as insects, ensure the survival of their offspring by depositing their eggs in favorable environments. To identify suitable oviposition sites, insects, such as the vinegar fly Drosophila melanogaster, assess a complex range of features. The fly selectively lays eggs in fermenting fruit. However, the precise cues and conditions that trigger oviposition remain unclear, including whether flies are also selective for the fruit substrate itself. RESULTS: Here, we demonstrate that flies prefer Citrus fruits as oviposition substrate. Flies detect terpenes characteristic of these fruits via a single class of olfactory sensory neurons, expressing odorant receptor Or19a. These neurons are necessary and sufficient for selective oviposition. In addition, we find that the Citrus preference is an ancestral trait, presumably representing an adaptation toward fruits found within the native African habitat. Moreover, we show that endoparasitoid wasps that parasitize fly larvae are strongly repelled by the smell of Citrus, as well as by valencene, the primary ligand of Or19a. Finally, larvae kept in substrates enriched with valencene suffer a reduced risk of parasitism. CONCLUSIONS: Our results demonstrate that a single dedicated olfactory pathway determines oviposition fruit substrate choice. Moreover, our work suggests that the fly's fruit preference--reflected in the functional properties of the identified neuron population--stem from a need to escape parasitism from endoparasitoid wasps.