Orcokinin neuropeptides inhibit courtship and are involved in the regulation of other innate behaviors in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster  

MARIANO VOLONTÉ; VALERIA SILVA MOLLER; ANGELINA PALACIOS MUÑOZ; JOHN EWER; ONS SHEILA

Congreso; Congreso de la Sociedad Argentina de Investigación en Neurociencias; 2020

Animal survival and reproduction depend on the adjustment of physiology and behavior to internal and environmental cues. Neural and neuroendocrine systems play a centralrole in the coordination of different stimuli in order to generate an adaptive response. Signaling molecules involved in physiological and behavioral coordination includeneurotransmitters and neurohormones. Of special relevance among neurohormones are neuropeptides, which are encoded as pre-propeptide precursors and posttranslationally modied to exert their role on physiology and/or behavior.A poorly studied neuropeptide family in invertebrates is that of the Orcokinins (OKs), here we investigated its role in the regulation of innate behaviors in the fruit y, such asecdysis, courtship, locomotor activity, and sleep. The strongest effect was observed in courtship behavior, where OK RNAi-mediated gene silencing provoked a markeddisinhibition in male courtship towards both a female or a male target.