2025-09-30 中国科学院(CAS)
The neural circuit composed of circadian neurons-dopaminergic neurons-olfactory neurons regulates the rhythmicity of foraging behavior. Right: At midday, high activity of mlPN3 suppresses foraging. Left: In the early morning, these neurons are inhibited, leading to increased foraging activity. (Image by LI Yan’s group)
<関連情報>
- https://english.cas.cn/newsroom/research_news/life/202510/t20251011_1089273.shtml
- https://www.cell.com/current-biology/abstract/S0960-9822(25)01181-9
ショウジョウバエにおける食物の匂い誘引を調節することで、中枢時計が採餌リズムを駆動する Central clock drives foraging rhythm through modulating food odor attraction in Drosophila
Mingmin Zhou ∙ Meijun Zheng ∙ Xiaohang Zhang ∙ … ∙ Xichu Cao ∙ Aike Guo ∙ Yan Li
Current Biology Published:September 26, 2025
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2025.09.011
Highlights
- A group of iPNs, mlPN3, plays a suppressive role in regulating foraging behavior
- mlPN3 exhibits inhibitory responses to food odors in a pattern of circadian changes
- mlPN3 neurons receive circadian neural modulation from PAM-β′2 DANs
- Circadian neurons activate PAM-β′2 DANs via PDF neuropeptide
Summary
Animals display rhythmic foraging behavior synchronized with the Earth’s 24-h cycle. However, the underlying neural mechanism remains poorly understood. In this study, we found that one group of olfactory inhibitory projection neurons (iPNs) in Drosophila, called mlPN3, exhibits circadian responses to food odor and plays an essential role in promoting rhythmic foraging. We show that this circadian activity of mlPN3 neurons is driven by a rhythmic inhibition from a group of dopaminergic neurons (DANs), PAM-β’2. Furthermore, PAM-β’2 DANs are activated in the early morning by a group of circadian neurons, called morning cells, through pigment-dispersing factor (PDF) neuropeptide. Suppressing either PAM-β’2 DANs or morning cells impairs morning foraging, which is fully rescued by inhibiting mlPN3 neurons. Together, our findings show that the constant inhibition on foraging behavior of these iPNs is lifted by the circadian signal through dopaminergic suppression, providing critical insights into the function of the disinhibition circuit in circadian regulation.
