Dataset Information

Automated quantification of locomotion, social interaction, and mate preference in Drosophila mutants.

ABSTRACT: Automated tracking methods facilitate screening for and characterization of abnormal locomotion or more complex behaviors in Drosophila. We developed the Iowa Fly Locomotion and Interaction Tracker (IowaFLI Tracker), a MATLAB-based video analysis system, to identify and track multiple flies in a small arena. We report altered motor activity in the K(+) and Na(+) channel mutants, Hk(1) and para(ts1), which had previously been shown to display abnormal larval locomotion. Environmental factors influencing individual behavior, such as available "social space," were studied by using IowaFLI Tracker to simultaneously track multiple flies in the same arena. We found that crowding levels affect individual fly activity, with the total movement of individual flies attenuated around a particular density. This observation may have important implications in the design of activity chambers for studying particular kinds of social interactions. IowaFLI Tracker also directly quantifies social interactions by tracking the amount of time individuals are in proximity to one another-visualized as an "interactogram." This feature enables the development of a "target-preference" assay to study male courtship behavior where males are presented with a choice between two immobilized, decapitated females, and their locomotion and interactions quantified. We used this assay to study the chemosensory mutants olf D (para(olfD), sbl(2)) and Gr32a and their preferences towards virgin or mated females. Male olf D flies showed reduced courtship levels, with no clear preference towards either, whereas Gr32a males preferentially courted with virgin females over mated females in this assay. These initial results demonstrate that IowaFLI Tracker can be employed to explore motor coordination and social interaction phenomena in behavioral mutants of Drosophila.

SUBMITTER: Iyengar A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3613147 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Automated quantification of locomotion, social interaction, and mate preference in Drosophila mutants.

Iyengar Atulya A Imoehl Jordan J Ueda Atsushi A Nirschl Jeffery J Wu Chun-Fang CF

Journal of neurogenetics 20120901 3-4

Automated tracking methods facilitate screening for and characterization of abnormal locomotion or more complex behaviors in Drosophila. We developed the Iowa Fly Locomotion and Interaction Tracker (IowaFLI Tracker), a MATLAB-based video analysis system, to identify and track multiple flies in a small arena. We report altered motor activity in the K(+) and Na(+) channel mutants, Hk(1) and para(ts1), which had previously been shown to display abnormal larval locomotion. Environmental factors infl ...[more]

PMID: 23106154

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Project description:Sensory and social inputs interact with underlying gene suites to coordinate social behavior. Here we use a naturally complex system in sexual selection studies, the swordtail, to explore how genes associated with mate preference, receptivity, and social affiliation interact in the female brain under specific social conditions. We focused on 11 genes associated with mate preference in this species (neuroserpin, neuroligin-3, NMDA receptor, tPA, stathmin-2, ?-1 adrenergic receptor) or with female sociosexual behaviors in other taxa (vasotocin, isotocin, brain aromatase, ?-1 adrenergic receptor, tyrosine hydroxylase). We exposed females to four social conditions, including pairings of differing mate choice complexity (large males, large/small males, small males), and a social control (two females). Female mate preference differed significantly by context. Multiple discriminant analysis (MDA) of behaviors revealed a primary axis (explaining 50.2% between-group variance) highlighting differences between groups eliciting high preference behaviors (LL, LS) vs. other contexts, and a secondary axis capturing general measures distinguishing a non-favored group (SS) from other groups. Gene expression MDA revealed a major axis (68.4% between-group variance) that distinguished amongst differential male pairings and was driven by suites of "preference and receptivity genes"; whereas a second axis, distinguishing high affiliation groups (large males, females) from low (small males), was characterized by traditional affiliative-associated genes (isotocin, vasotocin). We found context-specific correlations between behavior and gene MDA, suggesting gene suites covary with behaviors in a socially relevant context. Distinct associations between "affiliative" and "preference" axes suggest mate preference may be mediated by distinct clusters from those of social affiliation. Our results highlight the need to incorporate natural complexity of mating systems into behavioral genomics.

Dataset Information

Automated quantification of locomotion, social interaction, and mate preference in Drosophila mutants.

Publications

Automated quantification of locomotion, social interaction, and mate preference in Drosophila mutants.

Similar Datasets

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