Genetics and neurobiology of aggression in Drosophila

Aggressive behavior is widely present throughout the animal kingdom and is crucial to ensure survival and reproduction. Aggressive actions serve to acquire territory, food, or mates and in defense against predators or rivals; while in some species these behaviors are involved in establishing a social hierarchy. Aggression is a complex behavior, influenced by a broad range of genetic and environmental factors. Recent studies in Drosophila provide insight into the genetic basis and control of aggression. The state of the art on aggression in Drosophila and the many opportunities provided by this model organism to unravel the genetic and neurobiological basis of aggression are reviewed

Methylation deficiency disrupts biological rhythms from bacteria to humans

メチル化と体内時計が生命誕生以来の密な関係にあることを発見 --生命の起源に学ぶヒト障害の新治療法--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2020-05-27.The methyl cycle is a universal metabolic pathway providing methyl groups for the methylation of nuclei acids and proteins, regulating all aspects of cellular physiology. We have previously shown that methyl cycle inhibition in mammals strongly affects circadian rhythms. Since the methyl cycle and circadian clocks have evolved early during evolution and operate in organisms across the tree of life, we sought to determine whether the link between the two is also conserved. Here, we show that methyl cycle inhibition affects biological rhythms in species ranging from unicellular algae to humans, separated by more than 1 billion years of evolution. In contrast, the cyanobacterial clock is resistant to methyl cycle inhibition, although we demonstrate that methylations themselves regulate circadian rhythms in this organism. Mammalian cells with a rewired bacteria-like methyl cycle are protected, like cyanobacteria, from methyl cycle inhibition, providing interesting new possibilities for the treatment of methylation deficiencies

Publisher Correction: Methylation deficiency disrupts biological rhythms from bacteria to humans

From Springer Nature via Jisc Publications RouterHistory: registration 2020-05-27, pub-electronic 2020-06-04, online 2020-06-04, collection 2020-12Publication status: PublishedAn amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper

The neurobiology of social context-dependent stress responses

Sociability, an individual's tendency to engage in group interactions, is a fundamental property of life.Recently, sociability has been identified as a strong mortality predictor in humans. Although affecting health, we lack an understanding of the biological mechanisms underlying sociability. I here propose that the presence of others modulates an individual's response to a stressor. Being an evolutionary conserved trait, I am investigating the sociability neurocircuitry in the model system Drosophila melanogaster. Our first observations point towards group size dependent sex dimorphic differences in heat resistance to noxious temperatures. Females benefit from being included in larger groups then males in terms of reaction speed, temperature of Vmax and survival when being exposed to harmful temperatures.Furthermore, flies show sex specific social leg interactions when being subjected to a temperature gradient up until the point of conspecifics’ heat paralysis, implicating sex-specific cooperation in heat resistance. As social interaction requires conspecific recognition and context, I will further explore the importance of various sensory modalities underlying social context-dependent sex dimorphic heat stress and resistance responses

The neurobiology of social context-dependent stress responses

Sociability, an individual's tendency to engage in group interactions, is a fundamental property of life.Recently, sociability has been identified as a strong mortality predictor in humans. Although affecting health, we lack an understanding of the biological mechanisms underlying sociability. I here propose that the presence of others modulates an individual's response to a stressor. Being an evolutionary conserved trait, I am investigating the sociability neurocircuitry in the model system Drosophila melanogaster. Our first observations point towards group size dependent sex dimorphic differences in heat resistance to noxious temperatures. Females benefit from being included in larger groups then males in terms of reaction speed, temperature of Vmax and survival when being exposed to harmful temperatures.Furthermore, flies show sex specific social leg interactions when being subjected to a temperature gradient up until the point of conspecifics’ heat paralysis, implicating sex-specific cooperation in heat resistance. As social interaction requires conspecific recognition and context, I will further explore the importance of various sensory modalities underlying social context-dependent sex dimorphic heat stress and resistance responses

Hearing regulates Drosophila aggression

Aggression is a universal social behavior important for the acquisition of food, mates, territory, and social status. Aggression in Drosophila is context-dependent and can thus be expected to involve inputs from multiple sensory modalities. Here, we use mechanical disruption and genetic approaches in Drosophila melanogaster to 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 of Drosophila intermale aggression and open perspectives to decipher how hearing and other sensory modalities are integrated at the neural circuit level.status: publishe