Drosophila : Genetics meets behaviour
TL;DR: Behavioural genetics research is at the forefront of behavioural genetics research, and the fruitfly Drosophila melanogaster has provided important insights into the molecular, cellular and evolutionary bases of behaviour.
Abstract: Genes are understandably crucial to physiology, morphology and biochemistry, but the idea of genes contributing to individual differences in behaviour once seemed outrageous. Nevertheless, some scientists have aspired to understand the relationship between genes and behaviour, and their research has become increasingly informative and productive over the past several decades. At the forefront of behavioural genetics research is the fruitfly Drosophila melanogaster, which has provided us with important insights into the molecular, cellular and evolutionary bases of behaviour.
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TL;DR: The existence of behavioral syndromes focuses the attention of behavioral ecologists on limited (less than optimal) behavioral plasticity and behavioral carryovers across situations, rather than on optimal plasticity in each isolated situation.
Abstract: Recent studies suggest that populations and species often exhibit behavioral syndromes; that is, suites of correlated behaviors across situations. An example is an aggression syndrome where some individuals are more aggressive, whereas others are less aggressive across a range of situations and contexts. The existence of behavioral syndromes focuses the attention of behavioral ecologists on limited (less than optimal) behavioral plasticity and behavioral carryovers across situations, rather than on optimal plasticity in each isolated situation. Behavioral syndromes can explain behaviors that appear strikingly non-adaptive in an isolated context (e.g. inappropriately high activity when predators are present, or excessive sexual cannibalism). Behavioral syndromes can also help to explain the maintenance of individual variation in behavioral types, a phenomenon that is ubiquitous, but often ignored. Recent studies suggest that the behavioral type of an individual, population or species can have important ecological and evolutionary implications, including major effects on species distributions, on the relative tendencies of species to be invasive or to respond well to environmental change, and on speciation rates. Although most studies of behavioral syndromes to date have focused on a few organisms, mainly in the laboratory, further work on other species, particularly in the field, should yield numerous new insights.
2,954 citations
Cites background from "Drosophila : Genetics meets behavio..."
...In Drosophila ,t hefor gene underlies correlations between larval foraging activity, antiparasite behavior and adult foraging [ 76 ]....
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TL;DR: It is suggested that behavioral syndromes could play a useful role as an integrative bridge between genetics, experience, neuroendocrine mechanisms, evolution, and ecology.
Abstract: A behavioral syndrome is a suite of correlated behaviors expressed either within a given behavioral context (e.g., correlations between foraging behaviors in different habitats) or across different contexts (e.g., correlations among feeding, antipredator, mating, aggressive, and dispersal behaviors). For example, some individuals (and genotypes) might be generally more aggressive, more active or bold, while others are generally less aggressive, active or bold. This phenomenon has been studied in detail in humans, some primates, laboratory rodents, and some domesticated animals, but has rarely been studied in other organisms, and rarely examined from an evolutionary or ecological perspective. Here, we present an integrative overview on the potential importance of behavioral syndromes in evolution and ecology. A central idea is that behavioral correlations generate tradeoffs; for example, an aggressive genotype might do well in situations where high aggression is favored, but might be inappropriate...
1,766 citations
TL;DR: The zebrafish Danio rerio, is an important model organism in developmental genetics, neurophysiology and biomedicine, but little is known about its natural ecology and behaviour.
Abstract: The zebrafish Danio rerio, is an important model organism in developmental genetics, neurophysiology and biomedicine, but little is known about its natural ecology and behaviour. It is a small, shoaling cyprinid, native to the flood-plains of the Indian subcontinent, where it is found in shallow, slow-flowing waters. Zebrafish are group spawners and egg scatterers, although females are choosy with respect to sites for oviposition and males defend territories around such sites. Laboratory studies of zebrafish behaviour have encompassed shoaling, foraging, reproduction, sensory perception and learning. These studies are reviewed in relation to the suitability of the zebrafish as a model for studies on cognition and learning, development, behavioural and evolutionary ecology, and behavioural genetics.
967 citations
Cites background from "Drosophila : Genetics meets behavio..."
...The relationship between genes and complex behaviours is not straightforward (Sokolowski, 2001)....
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...Much of the pioneering behavioural genetics research has utilised Drosophila melanogaster as a model; genes have been identified that control complex syndromes such as learning and memory, mating behaviour and circadian rhythms (Sokolowski, 2001; Anholt & Mackay, 2004)....
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TL;DR: It is concluded that there is now strong evidence that virtually all individual psychological differences, when reliably measured, are moderately to substantially heritable.
Abstract: Psychological researchers typically distinguish five major domains of individual differences in human behavior: cognitive abilities, personality, social attitudes, psychological interests, and psychopathology (Lubinski, 2000). In this article we: discuss a number of methodological errors commonly found in research on human individual differences; introduce a broad framework for interpreting findings from contemporary behavioral genetic studies; briefly outline the basic quantitative methods used in human behavioral genetic research; review the major criticisms of behavior genetic designs, with particular emphasis on the twin and adoption methods; describe the major or dominant theoretical scheme in each domain; and review behavioral genetic findings in all five domains. We conclude that there is now strong evidence that virtually all individual psychological differences, when reliably measured, are moderately to substantially heritable.
784 citations
University of Tennessee Health Science Center1, University of Dundee2, University of California, San Francisco3, Ohio State University4, Georgia Regents University5, University of Pittsburgh6, University of California, San Diego7, University of Colorado Boulder8, Virginia Commonwealth University9, President University10, Anschutz Medical Campus11, Duke University12, Barrow Neurological Institute13, Yale University14, King's College London15, University of Toronto16
TL;DR: A new, experimentally based compilation of species-specific dose selection for studies on the in vivo effects of nicotine, addressing issues related to genetic background, age, acute vs chronic exposure, route of administration, and behavioral responses is provided.
Abstract: Rationale
This review provides insight for the judicious selection of nicotine dose ranges and routes of administration for in vivo studies. The literature is replete with reports in which a dosaging regimen chosen for a specific nicotine-mediated response was suboptimal for the species used. In many cases, such discrepancies could be attributed to the complex variables comprising species-specific in vivo responses to acute or chronic nicotine exposure.
766 citations
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TL;DR: The GAL4 system, a system for targeted gene expression that allows the selective activation of any cloned gene in a wide variety of tissue- and cell-specific patterns, has been designed and used to expand the domain of embryonic expression of the homeobox protein even-skipped.
Abstract: We have designed a system for targeted gene expression that allows the selective activation of any cloned gene in a wide variety of tissue- and cell-specific patterns. The gene encoding the yeast transcriptional activator GAL4 is inserted randomly into the Drosophila genome to drive GAL4 expression from one of a diverse array of genomic enhancers. It is then possible to introduce a gene containing GAL4 binding sites within its promoter, to activate it in those cells where GAL4 is expressed, and to observe the effect of this directed misexpression on development. We have used GAL4-directed transcription to expand the domain of embryonic expression of the homeobox protein even-skipped. We show that even-skipped represses wingless and transforms cells that would normally secrete naked cuticle into denticle secreting cells. The GAL4 system can thus be used to study regulatory interactions during embryonic development. In adults, targeted expression can be used to generate dominant phenotypes for use in genetic screens. We have directed expression of an activated form of the Dras2 protein, resulting in dominant eye and wing defects that can be used in screens to identify other members of the Dras2 signal transduction pathway.
9,460 citations
Mark Raymond Adams1, Susan E. Celniker2, Robert A. Holt1, Cheryl A. Evans1 +191 more•Institutions (23)
TL;DR: The nucleotide sequence of nearly all of the approximately 120-megabase euchromatic portion of the Drosophila genome is determined using a whole-genome shotgun sequencing strategy supported by extensive clone-based sequence and a high-quality bacterial artificial chromosome physical map.
Abstract: The fly Drosophila melanogaster is one of the most intensively studied organisms in biology and serves as a model system for the investigation of many developmental and cellular processes common to higher eukaryotes, including humans. We have determined the nucleotide sequence of nearly all of the approximately 120-megabase euchromatic portion of the Drosophila genome using a whole-genome shotgun sequencing strategy supported by extensive clone-based sequence and a high-quality bacterial artificial chromosome physical map. Efforts are under way to close the remaining gaps; however, the sequence is of sufficient accuracy and contiguity to be declared substantially complete and to support an initial analysis of genome structure and preliminary gene annotation and interpretation. The genome encodes approximately 13,600 genes, somewhat fewer than the smaller Caenorhabditis elegans genome, but with comparable functional diversity.
6,180 citations
TL;DR: Three mutants have been isolated in which the normal 24-hour rhythm is drastically changed and all these mutations appear to involve the same functional gene on the X chromosome.
Abstract: Three mutants have been isolated in which the normal 24-hour rhythm is drastically changed. One mutant is arrhythmic; another has a period of 19 hr; a third has a period of 28 hr. Both the eclosion rhythm of a population and the locomotor activity of individual flies are affected. All these mutations appear to involve the same functional gene on the X chromosome.
2,161 citations
TL;DR: The Drosophila model recapitulates the essential features of the human disorder, and makes possible a powerful genetic approach to Parkinson's disease.
Abstract: Parkinson's disease is a common neurodegenerative syndrome characterized by loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra, formation of filamentous intraneuronal inclusions (Lewy bodies) and an extrapyramidal movement disorder. Mutations in the alpha-synuclein gene are linked to familial Parkinson's disease and alpha-synuclein accumulates in Lewy bodies and Lewy neurites. Here we express normal and mutant forms of alpha-synuclein in Drosophila and produce adult-onset loss of dopaminergic neurons, filamentous intraneuronal inclusions containing alpha-synuclein and locomotor dysfunction. Our Drosophila model thus recapitulates the essential features of the human disorder, and makes possible a powerful genetic approach to Parkinson's disease.
1,986 citations
TL;DR: A variant in human sleep behavior can be attributed to a missense mutation in a clock component, hPER2, which alters the circadian period.
Abstract: Familial advanced sleep phase syndrome (FASPS) is an autosomal dominant circadian rhythm variant; affected individuals are "morning larks" with a 4-hour advance of the sleep, temperature, and melatonin rhythms. Here we report localization of the FASPS gene near the telomere of chromosome 2q. A strong candidate gene (hPer2), a human homolog of the period gene in Drosophila, maps to the same locus. Affected individuals have a serine to glycine mutation within the casein kinase Iepsilon (CKIepsilon) binding region of hPER2, which causes hypophosphorylation by CKIepsilon in vitro. Thus, a variant in human sleep behavior can be attributed to a missense mutation in a clock component, hPER2, which alters the circadian period.
1,372 citations