Conditioning mutations in Drosophila melanogaster affect an experience-dependent behavioral modification in courting males

One aspect of courtship in male Drosophila melanogaster has been reported to be experience dependent. Males that have courted fertilized females are virtually unresponsive to virgin females for 2-3 hr. Here, this response was utilized as an assay for the effects of conditioning mutations on experience-dependent courtship. Seven strains expressing conditioning mutations (previously isolated and characterized for learning or memory defects in an electrical shock-odor association paradigm, independent of courtship) were all found to be mutant in expression of this experience-dependent change in courtship behavior. By comparison, three control strains that were unselected for conditioning defects all expressed normal experience-dependent courtship. Other results indicate that males of the conditioning-defective strains are able to elicit necessary cues from fertilized females, yet do not then modify their courtship with virgin females. Thus, it is suggested that experience-dependent modification of courtship and the previously reported associative olfactory conditioning with electric shock share common elements of processing. The possibility that experience-dependent courtship represents adaptive behavior is discussed.