Alcohol potentiates a pheromone signal in flies

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Abstract

For decades, numerous researchers have documented the presence of the fruit fly or Drosophila melanogaster on alcohol-containing food sources. Although fruit flies are a common laboratory model organism of choice, there is relatively little understood about the ethological relationship between flies and ethanol. In this study, we find that when male flies inhabit ethanol-containing food substrates they become more aggressive. We identify a possible mechanism for this behavior. The odor of ethanol potentiates the activity of sensory neurons in response to an aggression-promoting pheromone. Finally, we observed that the odor of ethanol also promotes attraction to a food-related citrus odor. Understanding how flies interact with the complex natural environment they inhabit can provide valuable insight into how different natural stimuli are integrated to promote fundamental behaviors.

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All data generated or analysed during this study are included in the manuscript and supporting files.

Article and author information

Author details

Annie Park

Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom

For correspondence
annie.park@dpag.ox.ac.uk

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

"This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0001-5618-2286
Tracy Tran

Institute for Neuroscience, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, United States

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
Elizabeth A Scheuermann

Neuroscience, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, United States

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
Dean P Smith

Pharmacology and Neuroscience, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, United States

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

"This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0002-4271-0436
Nigel S Atkinson

Department of Neuroscience and Waggoner Center for Alcohol and Addiction Research, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, United States

For correspondence
nigela@utexas.edu

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

Funding

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (2R01AA01803706A1)

Nigel S Atkinson

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (F31AA027160)

Annie Park

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (T32AA07471)

Annie Park

National Institutes of Health (R01DC015230)

Dean P Smith

National Institutes of Health (5T32GM008203)

Elizabeth A Scheuermann

The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.

Copyright

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.