[Jigok Lecture Series] ▶Subject: Multi-Factorial Modulation of an Innate Behavior ▶Speaker: Prof. Young-Joon Kim (School of Life Sciences, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology) ▶Date: 4:30PM/Mar. 31(Thu.)/2016 ▶Place: Auditorium(1F), Postech Biotech Center *Abctract How the brain integrates multiple external sensory and internal physiological state cues, and makes behavioral decisions is a central question in neuroscience. Reproductive behaviors, particularly associated with female offer important experimental paradigms to address this question, because females in the most animal species need to coordinate her reproductive decisions according to not only quality of her mates, but also her nutritional states and environmental factors, such as those associated with food sources for herself and her offspring. Sperm ejection of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster female is a behavior of our interest in this context. During copulation, Drosophila female receives a large amount of sperm and ejaculates from male, and keep them in her uterus. After individually varying delays, during which sperm is transferred to the storage organs, the mated female removes unused sperm and ejaculates from the uterus through the stereotypic sperm ejection behavior. We discovered that the brain pathway composed of diuretic hormone 44 (Dh44) and its receptor Dh44R1 is important for timing of sperm ejection. Females with suppressed Dh44 and Dh44R1 activities showed precocious sperm ejection, whereas those with elevated Dh44 activities remove sperm after considerable delays. Our analyses also uncovered that timing of sperm ejection is modulated by nutritional states and post-mating social interactions. Intriguingly, Dh44 has been implicated with many other biological processes, including diuresis, feeding and rhythmicity of diurnal activity. Thus, we now ask how such factors affect activity of central Dh44 neurons and timing of sperm ejection, by combining molecular genetic analyses and in vivo brain activity imaging. We expect this study allow us to better understand how the neuroendocrine system integrates factors from multiple environmental and physiological factors and orchestrates relevant behavioral decisions. ▶Inquiry: Prof. Lee, Seung-Woo (279-2355) * This seminar will be given in English. please refrain from taking photos during seminars. *