Female-specific regulation of cuticular hydrocarbon biosynthesis by dopamine in Drosophila melanogaster

The role of dopamine (DA) is investigated in cuticular hydrocarbon biosynthesis in Drosophila melanogaster with three different approaches: use of DA-deficient mutants (dopa decarboxylase temperature sensitive mutants reared at restrictive temperature, and rescued by dopamine ingestion or by pale mutants partially rescued by a tyrosine hydroxylase construction), pharmacological treatments (tyrosine hydroxylase inhibitors) and topical application on decapitated flies. We report that DA specifically regulates diene hydrocarbon biosynthesis, which is female specific. Our results suggest that DA acts in adult flies within the first hours of imaginal life and that DA production from the brain is crucial for this process. Thus, DA contributes to reproduction in D. melanogaster by acting during a critical period during development of young adults.