Abstract

Many insect species exhibit basal social behaviors such as aggregation, which play important roles in their feeding and mating ecologies. However, the evolutionary, genetic, and physiological mechanisms that regulate insect aggregation remain unknown for most species. Here, we used natural populations of Drosophila melanogaster to identify the genetic architecture that drives larval aggregation feeding behavior. By using quantitative and reverse genetic approaches, we have identified a complex neurogenetic network that plays a role in regulating the decision of larvae to feed in either solitude or as a group. Results from single gene, RNAi-knockdown experiments show that several of the identified genes represent key nodes in the genetic network that determines the level of aggregation while feeding. Furthermore, we show that a single non-coding variant in the gene CG14205, a putative acyltransferase, is associated with both decreased mRNA expression and increased aggregate formation, which suggests that it has a specific role in inhibiting aggregation behavior. Our results identify, for the first time, the genetic components which interact to regulate naturally occurring levels of aggregation in D. melanogaster larvae.

摘要

许多昆虫物种表现出聚集等基本社会行为，这在它们的摄食和交配生态中起着重要作用。然而，对于大多数物种来说，调节昆虫聚集的进化、遗传和生理机制仍然未知。在这里，我们使用了黑腹果蝇的自然种群以确定驱动幼虫聚集摄食行为的遗传结构。通过使用定量和反向遗传方法，我们已经确定了一个复杂的神经遗传网络，该网络在调节幼虫以单独或集体觅食的决定中发挥作用。来自单基因、RNAi 敲低实验的结果表明，一些已识别的基因代表了遗传网络中的关键节点，这些节点决定了进食时的聚集水平。此外，我们显示基因CG14205中的单个非编码变体，一种假定的酰基转移酶，与 mRNA 表达降低和聚集体形成增加有关，这表明它在抑制聚集行为中具有特定作用。我们的研究结果首次确定了相互作用以调节黑腹果蝇幼虫中自然发生的聚集水平的遗传成分。