Flybow: genetic multicolor cell labeling for neural circuit analysis in Drosophila melanogaster

2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 260-266 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dafni Hadjieconomou ◽  
Shay Rotkopf ◽  
Cyrille Alexandre ◽  
Donald M Bell ◽  
Barry J Dickson ◽  
...  
1981 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 127-137 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles E. Mitchell ◽  
W. Otto Friesen

2017 ◽  
Vol 114 (8) ◽  
pp. 1958-1963 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marijke Versteven ◽  
Lies Vanden Broeck ◽  
Bart Geurten ◽  
Liesbeth Zwarts ◽  
Lisse Decraecker ◽  
...  

Aggression is a universal social behavior important for the acquisition of food, mates, territory, and social status. Aggression inDrosophilais context-dependent and can thus be expected to involve inputs from multiple sensory modalities. Here, we use mechanical disruption and genetic approaches inDrosophila melanogasterto identify hearing as an important sensory modality in the context of intermale aggressive behavior. We demonstrate that neuronal silencing and targeted knockdown of hearing genes in the fly’s auditory organ elicit abnormal aggression. Further, we show that exposure to courtship or aggression song has opposite effects on aggression. Our data define the importance of hearing in the control ofDrosophilaintermale aggression and open perspectives to decipher how hearing and other sensory modalities are integrated at the neural circuit level.


2022 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anita V. Devineni ◽  
Kristin M. Scaplen

Behavioral flexibility is critical to survival. Animals must adapt their behavioral responses based on changes in the environmental context, internal state, or experience. Studies in Drosophila melanogaster have provided insight into the neural circuit mechanisms underlying behavioral flexibility. Here we discuss how Drosophila behavior is modulated by internal and behavioral state, environmental context, and learning. We describe general principles of neural circuit organization and modulation that underlie behavioral flexibility, principles that are likely to extend to other species.


Cell Reports ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (11) ◽  
pp. 108139
Author(s):  
Hoai Buu Ngo ◽  
Mariana R. Melo ◽  
Sharon Layfield ◽  
Angela A. Connelly ◽  
Jaspreet K. Bassi ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 223 (24) ◽  
pp. jeb232439
Author(s):  
Jasper C. Simon ◽  
Ulrike Heberlein

ABSTRACTSocial interactions pivot on an animal's experiences, internal states and feedback from others. This complexity drives the need for precise descriptions of behavior to dissect the fine detail of its genetic and neural circuit bases. In laboratory assays, male Drosophila melanogaster reliably exhibit aggression, and its extent is generally measured by scoring lunges, a feature of aggression in which one male quickly thrusts onto his opponent. Here, we introduce an explicit approach to identify both the onset and reversals in hierarchical status between opponents and observe that distinct aggressive acts reproducibly precede, concur or follow the establishment of dominance. We find that lunges are insufficient for establishing dominance. Rather, lunges appear to reflect the dominant state of a male and help in maintaining his social status. Lastly, we characterize the recurring and escalating structure of aggression that emerges through subsequent reversals in dominance. Collectively, this work provides a framework for studying the complexity of agonistic interactions in male flies, enabling its neurogenetic basis to be understood with precision.


2015 ◽  
Vol 370 (1677) ◽  
pp. 20140211 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Owald ◽  
Suewei Lin ◽  
Scott Waddell

The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster has emerged as a popular model to investigate fundamental principles of neural circuit operation. The sophisticated genetics and small brain permit a cellular resolution understanding of innate and learned behavioural processes. Relatively recent genetic and technical advances provide the means to specifically and reproducibly manipulate the function of many fly neurons with temporal resolution. The same cellular precision can also be exploited to express genetically encoded reporters of neural activity and cell-signalling pathways. Combining these approaches in living behaving animals has great potential to generate a holistic view of behavioural control that transcends the usual molecular, cellular and systems boundaries. In this review, we discuss these approaches with particular emphasis on the pioneering studies and those involving learning and memory.


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sebastien Lebreton ◽  
Felipe Borrero-Echeverry ◽  
Francisco Gonzalez ◽  
Marit Solum ◽  
Erika Wallin ◽  
...  

AbstractMate recognition in animals evolves during niche adaptation and involves habitat and social olfactory signals. Drosophila melanogaster is attracted to fermenting fruit for feeding and egg-laying. We show that, in addition, female flies release a pheromone (Z)-4-undecenal (Z4-11Al), that elicits flight attraction in both sexes. The biosynthetic precursor of Z4-11Al is the cuticular hydrocarbon (Z,Z)-7,11-heptacosadiene (7,11-HD), which is known to afford reproductive isolation between the sibling species D. melanogaster and D. simulans. A pair of alternatively spliced receptors, Or69aB and Or69aA, is tuned to Z4-11Al and to food olfactory cues, respectively. These receptors are co-expressed in the same olfactory sensory neurons, and feed into a neural circuit mediating species-specific, long-range communication: the close relative D. simulans, which shares food resources and co-occurs with D. melanogaster, does not respond. That Or69aA and Or69aB have adopted dual olfactory traits highlights the interplay of habitat and social signals in mate finding. These olfactory receptor genes afford a collaboration between natural and sexual selection, which has the potential to drive phylogenetic divergence.Significance StatementVolatile insect sex pheromones carry a message over a distance, they are perceived by dedicated olfactory receptors, and elicit a sequence of innate behaviours. Pheromones mediate specific mate recognition, but are embedded in and perceived together with environmental olfactory cues. We have identified the first long-range, species-specific pheromone in Drosophila melanogaster. A pair of spliced olfactory receptors, feeding into the same neural circuit, has developed a dual affinity to this pheromone and kairomones, encoding adult and larval food. Blends of this pheromone and kairomone specifically attract D. melanogaster, but not the close relative D. simulans. This becomes an excellent paradigm to study the interaction of social signals and habitat olfactory cues in premating reproductive isolation and phylogenetic divergence.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jasper C. Simon ◽  
Ulrike Heberlein

ABSTRACTSocial interactions pivot on an animal’s experiences, internal states, and feedback from others. This complexity drives the need for precise descriptions of behavior to dissect the fine detail of its genetic and neural circuit bases. In laboratory assays, male Drosophila melanogaster reliably exhibit aggression, and its extent is generally measured by scoring lunges, a feature of aggression in which one male quickly thrusts onto his opponent. Here, we introduce an explicit approach to identify both the onset and reversals in hierarchical status among opponents and observe that distinct aggressive acts reproducibly precede, concur, or follow the establishment of dominance. We find that lunges are insufficient for establishing dominance. Rather, lunges appear to reflect the dominant state of a male and help in maintaining his social status. Lastly, we characterize the recurring and escalating structure of aggression that emerges through subsequent reversals in dominance. Collectively, this work provides a framework for studying the complexity of agonistic interactions in male flies enabling its neurogenetic basis to be understood with precision.


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefanie Hampel ◽  
Andrew Michael Seeds

The ability to control the activity of specific neurons in freely behaving animals provides an effective way to probe the contributions of neural circuits to behavior. Wide interest in studying principles of neural circuit function using the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster has fueled the construction of an extensive transgenic toolkit for performing such neural manipulations. Here we describe approaches for using these tools to manipulate the activity of specific neurons and assess how those manipulations impact the behavior of flies. We also describe methods for examining connectivity among multiple neurons that together form a neural circuit controlling a specific behavior. This work provides a resource for researchers interested in examining how neurons and neural circuits contribute to the rich repertoire of behaviors performed by flies.


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