Mating alters the function of circadian clock

SABRINA RIVA; SOFIA POLCOWÑUK; LIHUEN SORIA-MERCIER; M. FERNANDA CERIANI; SEBASTIÁN RISAU-GUSMAN; D. LORENA FRANCO

Congreso; SAN 2020 XXXV Annual meeting; 2020

InDrosophila, the most studied circadian behavior is locomotoractivity, which is very well described in males. In the last years ithas been reported that once mated, females present differences intheir diurnal activity compared to males, in particular they losetheir rest period during daylight hours. The decreased daytime sleepobserved could be due to an interference with the circadian system,or on the contrary, it could be a homeostatic response associated toan increased egg-laying activity. To explore the hypothesis thatthe signaling generated by mating could alter the normal function ofthe circadian clock and modify the temporal organization of behavior, we performed a high resolution analysis of locomotor activity usinga video tracking method. Comparing the cycles of resting activity invirgin and mated females, as well as in males, we observed that, incontrast to males and virgins, mated females lose the ability toanticipate the night-day transition when motor activity is analyzedin light: dark cycles. Our results show that this post-matingresponse is mediated by the action of the sex peptide (SP) inpitpocket neurons, since the decreased expression of the SP receptor(SPR) in these neurons restores the ability to anticipate the light /dark transition in the females mated. To analyze the postsynaptictarget of PPK-SPR + sensory neurons we used the antegrade trans-tangotrans-synaptic tracing tool. Our preliminary data show small lateralventral neurons as new postsynaptic targets for PPK-SPR + sensoryneurons in mated females but not in males. Our results are consistentwith a model in which ing-triggered signaling is sent to the clocknetwork to modulate changes in the temporal organization of behavior.