Single gene behaviors Flashcards
In Drosophila, what are the 2 types of foraging strategies? Is it due to environment or to a gene?
It either rovers (go everywhere around) or sitters (stay nearby the same spot when food is present). Those 2 strategies exist in nature and it acts as a Mendelian trait that can be mapped using chromosome deletions (having 2 fornull alleles = lethal wo work with heterozygous).
In drosophila, what is the name of the allele involved in foraging and what is it coding for? What is the effect of that transcript on behavior?
It is the for allele. It codes for a cGMP-dependent protein kinase named PKG. ForR alleles = more PKG produced, so more roving, while forS codes for less. If you dupplicate forS alleles, you’ll end up with enough PKG to induce rovers.
What is better: rovers or sitters in Drosophila?
Rover better when no competition, but if either behavioral phenotype is a minority of the population, then it is more fit under conditions of high competition. As the fitter phenotype increases in frequency, it becomes less fit, thus maintaining equilibrium.
In c. elegans, what is the allele involved in social behavior?
npr-1 coding for a G-protein, social behavior is a recessive one and has an influence on the speed on food (faster when social). It is expressed in URX, AQR, PQR and RMG neurons.
How can we control the expression of a gene with temperature?
You play with the genome to put a heat shock promoter in front of the gene of interest so it is expressed only when temperature is higher than physiological conditions.
How can we determine where a specific protein is expressed when you already have its sequence in the genome?
Fuze the gene of interest promoter to GFP cDNA so neurons will be fluorescent when they express the gene of interest.
In c. elegans, what is the effect of gcy-35/36 alleles on npr-1?
They stop being in group and stop aggregating at the border when one of those 2 alleles are mutated.
In c. elegans, what is the role of gcy-35/36? What does this imply?
They are oxygen-sensing channels that act on other channels by converting GTP into cGMP in the presence of O2. That means worms are not social, they just have a preferred oxygen concentration.
In c. elegans, why do they have a preferred O2 concentration?
When they starve, they will tend to aggregate more and be more responsive to low concentrations of O2 because usually, that’s where the food is.
