Fig. 3

Sexual dimorphic NPF-NPFR signaling may account for the difference in ab3A responses of young males and females. a, b Representative images of adult male (♂) and female (♀) brains stained 1 (a) and 7 (b) days post-eclosion with an NPF-specific antiserum. c A pixel-based quantification of the NPF staining of male (♂) and female (♀) w ¹¹¹⁸ brains 1 and 7 days post-eclosion. Maximal intensity projections of z-stacks comprising ten 5.1-μm-thick optical sections centered on the four largest and brightest NPF-producing cells were used for quantification. Mean number of pixels with intensity scores >100 from brains for each sex are normalized with the nc82 signal and presented ± standard error, Student’s t test, non-significant (ns), P ≤ 0.01 (**). Replicate numbers for 1d females = 5; 7d females = 4; 1d males = 4; 7d males = 5. d Peak odor-evoked activity of ab3A neurons from male (♂) and female (♀) NPFR ^c01896 and w ¹¹¹⁸ flies to ethyl butyrate (EB, 10⁻⁵ v/v) recorded 1, 3, and 7 days post-eclosion. Data are presented as means ± standard error, two-way ANOVA, P ≤ 0.01 (**), P ≤ 0.001 (***). Replicate numbers for 1d w ¹¹¹⁸ males = 6; 3d w ¹¹¹⁸ males = 7; 7d w ¹¹¹⁸ males = 8; 1d w ¹¹¹⁸ females = 6; 3d w ¹¹¹⁸ females = 6; 7d w ¹¹¹⁸ females = 6; 1d NPFR ^c01896 males = 6; 3d NPFR ^c01896 males = 6; 7d NPFR ^c01896 males = 6; 1d NPFR ^c01896 females = 6; 3d NPFR ^c01896 females = 6; 7d NPFR ^c01896 females = 6