It turns out that male fruit flies prevent mating with other males by making females sleep
A study conducted jointly by researchers from the Bariloche Nuclear Center in Argentina and researchers from the
Mating disrupts morning anticipation in Drosophila melanogaster females | PLOS Genetics
https://journals.plos.org/plosgenetics/article?id=10.1371/journal.pgen.1010258
Male fruit flies found to transfer chemical to females to induce sleep, so they won't mate with other males
https://phys.org/news/2022-12-male-fruit-flies-chemical-females.html
Previous studies on fruit flies have shown that wild fruit flies wake up from their sleep state one to two hours before the sun rises. However, Drosophila is also known to change its sleep cycle after mating, so the research team investigated the activity of Drosophila after mating.
The research team raised several fruit flies in the laboratory and observed their activity for four days using a camera. During the observation, the laboratory was brightened and darkened at regular intervals in order to make the fruit flies recognize daytime and nighttime.
In this experiment, it became clear that only ``males'' and ``pre-mating females'' wake up and fly around after the lights are turned on, and that post-mating females have changed sleep cycles. rice field. From this, it is clear that the sleep cycle of post-mating females changes from that before mating. This seems to be due to the activation of the sex peptide receptor (SPR) on pickpocket (ppk)-expressing neurons in post-mating female Drosophila and the loss of the ability to predict the transition from night to day. In addition, it has been confirmed that when the expression of the ppk receptor is reduced, the sleep cycle prediction ability of mated female Drosophila is restored, and they return to the same normal lifestyle as 'males' and 'pre-mating females'. .
In addition, connectivity between ppk+ neurons and pigment diffusing factor (pdf)-positive lateral ventral neurons (sLNv), which play a central role in the temporal organization of daily activity, was confirmed. Since pdf is associated with the generation of morning activity peaks, the researchers speculate that copulation may modulate pdf levels. Furthermore, we also confirm that the reduction in SPR in ppk+ neurons is similar to the pdf levels observed in males.
The movie below shows the dendrites and presynaptic terminals of ppk+ neurons visualized by the expression of postsynaptic markers (orange) and presynaptic markers (green) in the brain of a mated female Drosophila. The red part is the pdf neuron.
Male fruit flies found to transfer chemical to females to induce sleep - YouTube
The research team has confirmed that mating male fruit flies release peptides into the female body along with sperm, and it is assumed that this will change the life rhythm of female fruit flies. The above video shows that ``the peptide that the male injects into the female moves to the brain and interacts with the part of the brain related to sleep''.
As to why male fruit flies inject chemicals into females during mating and change their sleep cycles, the research team said, ``Male fruit flies have evolved over time to ensure that females produce offspring. It's a survival tactic,' he concludes.
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