Deafness due to loss of a TRPV channel eliminates mating behavior in Aedes aegypti males

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Wang, Yijin; Thakur, Dhananjay; Duge, Emma; Murphy, Caroline; Girling, Ivan; Debeaubien, Nicolas A.; Chen, Jieyan; Nguyen, Benjamin H.; Gurav, Adishthi S.; Montell, Craig
• 署名单位: University of California System; University of California Santa Barbara; University of California System; University of California Santa Barbara
• 刊物名称: PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0027-14362
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2404324121
• 发表日期: 2024-11-19
• 关键词: flight tones; q-system; mosquito; drosophila; hearing; dengue; sound; frequency; responses; proteins

摘要

Attraction and mating between male and female animals depend on effective communication between conspecifics. However, in mosquitoes, we have only a rudimentary understanding of the sensory cues and receptors critical for the communication that is essential for reproductive behavior. While it is known that male Aedes aegypti use sound to help them identify females, it is not unclear whether sound detection is absolutely required since other cues such as vision may also participate in mating behavior. To determine the effect of eliminating hearing on mating success, we knocked out the Ae. aegypti TRPVa channel, which is a protein expressed in chordotonal neurons in the Johnston's organ (JO) that respond to sound- induced movements in the antenna. Loss of trpVa mutation of trpVa eliminated mating behavior in males. In contrast, trpVa- null females mated, although this behavior was slightly delayed relative to wild- type females. Males and females produce sounds as they beat their wings at distinct frequencies during flight. Sound mimicking the female wingbeat induced flight, attraction, and copulatory- like behavior in wild- type males without females present, but not in trpVa- null males. Males are known to modulate their wingbeat frequencies before mating in the air, which is a was absent in mosquitoes lacking TRPVa. We conclude that the requirement for trpVa males is eliminated.