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STUDIES ON THE TRANSCRIPTIONAL REGULATION UNDERLYING DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER SEX-SPECIFIC BEHAVIORS
by
Justin Eric Dalton
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
(MOLECULAR BIOLOGY)
December 2011
Copyright 2011 Justin Eric Dalton
Object Description
| Title | Studies on the transcriptional regulation underlying drosophila melanogaster sex-specific behaviors |
| Author | Dalton, Justin Eric |
| Author email | jedalton@usc.edu;justin.eric.dalton@gmail.com |
| Degree | Doctor of Philosophy |
| Document type | Dissertation |
| Degree program | Molecular Biology |
| School | College of Letters, Arts And Sciences |
| Date defended/completed | 2011-10-18 |
| Date submitted | 2011-10-31 |
| Date approved | 2011-10-31 |
| Restricted until | 2011-10-31 |
| Date published | 2011-10-31 |
| Advisor (committee chair) | Arbeitman, Michelle |
| Advisor (committee member) |
Tower, John Nuzhdin, Sergey Bottjer, David |
| Abstract | In Drosophila melanogaster, nearly all sexual dimorphism is controlled by the sex-determination hierarchy. At the top of this genetic regulatory cascade are genes that encode splicing factors that are produced in a sex-specific manner in response to the dose of a set of X chromosome genes. The cascade culminates in the production of sex-specific transcription factors, encoded by two genes whose transcripts are sex-specifically spliced—doublesex (dsx) and fruitless (fru). These sex-specific transcription factors are responsible for directing most aspects of sexual dimorphism, including sex-specific behaviors. Two of the most interesting and easily identifiable sex-specific behaviors are the male courtship and female post-mating behaviors. Although the male and female nervous systems are nearly indistinguishable on a gross anatomical scale, higher resolution analysis has identified sexual dimorphism in neuronal number and arborization patterns in subsets of neurons. These differences are thought to establish the ability to perform sex-specific behaviors. Although, FruM is necessary for specifying dimorphism in the neural circuit and the potential for courtship, how FruM facilitates these differences remains unclear. To address this, we sought to identify genes regulated downstream of FruM in males, during metamorphosis, when the nervous system is undergoing large developmental changes, particularly those necessary for adult sex-specific behaviors. This led to the identification of a set of genes, which are also known to be regulated downstream of the steroid hormone, ecdysone. Functional characterization of the receptor for ecdysone (EcR), within the male fru-expressing neuronal circuitry, revealed that one EcR isoform (EcR-A) is necessary for wildtype discrimination of males and females as targets for courtship, and for the establishment of male-specific arborization patterns in the antennal lobe. In addition to the regulatory roles FruM plays during metamorphosis, we also extended our analysis to adult stages, to identify FruM regulated genes within head and brain tissues. We identify multiple FruM-regulated genes in adult heads and brains, and showed that two of these genes are necessary for courtship behavior. Furthermore, we find that FruM isoforms, which differ in their predicted DNA binding domain, may regulate a common set of genes, though some isoform-specific transcriptional roles are apparent. Additionally, we find a number of genes regulated by both DsxM and FruM, including those with known expression in fat body tissues. Finally, we determined the transcriptional changes that accompany the female post-mating behavioral response. We find that female post-mating behavior is accompanied by large gene expression changes, with genes that encode products involved in metabolic processes showing large differences at many post-mating stages. Additionally, we find that modification of neuronal physiology likely underlies the post-mating response, as multiple genes encoding ion channels were found with transcription changes. The data presented here examines sex hierarchy transcriptional regulation and its implications for establishing the potential for sex-specific behaviors. |
| Keyword | sex-specific behavior; Drosophila melanogaster; fruitless; doublesex; transcription; genetics; courtship behavior; post-mating behavior |
| Language | English |
| Part of collection | University of Southern California dissertations and theses |
| Publisher (of the original version) | University of Southern California |
| Place of publication (of the original version) | Los Angeles, California |
| Publisher (of the digital version) | University of Southern California. Libraries |
| Provenance | Electronically uploaded by the author |
| Type | texts |
| Legacy record ID | usctheses-m |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Rights | Dalton, Justin Eric |
| Access conditions | The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the author, as the original true and official version of the work, but does not grant the reader permission to use the work if the desired use is covered by copyright. It is the author, as rights holder, who must provide use permission if such use is covered by copyright. The original signature page accompanying the original submission of the work to the USC Libraries is retained by the USC Libraries and a copy of it may be obtained by authorized requesters contacting the repository e-mail address given. |
| Repository name | University of Southern California Digital Library |
| Repository address | USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 7002, 106 University Village, Los Angeles, California 90089-7002, USA |
| Repository email | cisadmin@usc.edu |
| Archival file | uscthesesreloadpub_Volume71/etd-DaltonJust-373.pdf |
Description
| Title | Page 1 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Full text | STUDIES ON THE TRANSCRIPTIONAL REGULATION UNDERLYING DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER SEX-SPECIFIC BEHAVIORS by Justin Eric Dalton A Dissertation Presented to the FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (MOLECULAR BIOLOGY) December 2011 Copyright 2011 Justin Eric Dalton |
