No detectable effect of P2 neurons on female post-mating changes in sleep and feeding in Drosophila melanogaster
- 1Cornell University
Abstract
In many insects, females exhibit behavioral changes after mating. This plasticity can be mediated by interactions between male-derived seminal fluid proteins (SFPs) and the female nervous system. The Drosophila melanogaster seminal fluid protein Sex Peptide (SP) causes mated females to sleep less during the day and consume more food than unmated females, among other behavioral changes. Although the SP-sensing neural circuits that convey information to the females brain are known, the downstream neurons that affect post-mating behaviors remain unknown. P2 neurons in the flys central brain are good candidates for regulating post-mating changes in sleep and food consumption, as they express feeding- and sleep-responsive neuropeptide F (NPF), directly innervate the flys sleep center (the dorsal fan-shaped body, dFB), and are responsible for social-isolation-induced changes in sleep and food consumption. Using the GAL4/UAS system, we activated or silenced P2 neurons in mated and unmated females. We measured sleep duration using Drosophila Activity Monitors (DAM) and food consumption using Capillary Feeder (CAFE) and blue-dye assays. We found that P2-neurons are not responsible for post-mating changes in sleep and food consumption: mated females slept less during the day and ate more compared to unmated females irrespective of P2 neuron perturbation. Together, these results indicate that P2 neurons are unlikely to be primary downstream neurons through which male-transferred SP regulates post-mating sleep and food consumption. Future studies could determine whether P2 neurons regulate other post-mating behaviors or modulate sleep and feeding behaviors in a context-dependent manner.
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BibTeX
@misc{potdar2026detectable,
title = {{No detectable effect of P2 neurons on female post-mating changes in sleep and feeding in Drosophila melanogaster}},
author = {S. Potdar and T. Makhmudova and A. Schenck-Davis and S. Y. N. Delbare and A. M. Jain and Y. Hafezi and A. G. Clark and M. F. Wolfner},
howpublished = {bioRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.64898/2026.09.10.750755},
url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.10.750755v1},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - No detectable effect of P2 neurons on female post-mating changes in sleep and feeding in Drosophila melanogaster
AU - S. Potdar
AU - T. Makhmudova
AU - A. Schenck-Davis
AU - S. Y. N. Delbare
AU - A. M. Jain
AU - Y. Hafezi
AU - A. G. Clark
AU - M. F. Wolfner
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/10
PB - bioRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.09.10.750755
UR - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.10.750755v1
AB - In many insects, females exhibit behavioral changes after mating. This plasticity can be mediated by interactions between male-derived seminal fluid proteins (SFPs) and the female nervous system. The Drosophila melanogaster seminal fluid protein Sex Peptide (SP) causes mated females to sleep less during the day and consume more food than unmated females, among other behavioral changes. Although the SP-sensing neural circuits that convey information to the females brain are known, the downstream neurons that affect post-mating behaviors remain unknown. P2 neurons in the flys central brain are good candidates for regulating post-mating changes in sleep and food consumption, as they express feeding- and sleep-responsive neuropeptide F (NPF), directly innervate the flys sleep center (the dorsal fan-shaped body, dFB), and are responsible for social-isolation-induced changes in sleep and food consumption. Using the GAL4/UAS system, we activated or silenced P2 neurons in mated and unmated females. We measured sleep duration using Drosophila Activity Monitors (DAM) and food consumption using Capillary Feeder (CAFE) and blue-dye assays. We found that P2-neurons are not responsible for post-mating changes in sleep and food consumption: mated females slept less during the day and ate more compared to unmated females irrespective of P2 neuron perturbation. Together, these results indicate that P2 neurons are unlikely to be primary downstream neurons through which male-transferred SP regulates post-mating sleep and food consumption. Future studies could determine whether P2 neurons regulate other post-mating behaviors or modulate sleep and feeding behaviors in a context-dependent manner.
ER -