Molecular genetic analysis of sexual rejection: roles of octopamine and its receptor OAMB in Drosophila courtship conditioning.

After Drosophila males are rejected by mated females, their subsequent courtship is inhibited even when encountering virgin females. Molecular mechanisms underlying courtship conditioning in the CNS are unclear. In this study, we find that tyramine β hydroxylase (TβH) mutant males unable to synthesize octopamine (OA) showed impaired courtship conditioning, which could be rescued by transgenic TβH expression in the CNS.