1
|
Huang G, Dierick HA. The need for unbiased genetic screens to dissect aggression in Drosophila melanogaster. Front Behav Neurosci 2022; 16:901453. [PMID: 35979224 PMCID: PMC9377312 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2022.901453] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2022] [Accepted: 06/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Aggression is an evolutionarily conserved behavior present in most animals and is necessary for survival when competing for limited resources and mating partners. Studies have shown that aggression is modulated both genetically and epigenetically, but details of how the molecular and cellular mechanisms interact to determine aggressive behavior remain to be elucidated. In recent decades, Drosophila melanogaster has emerged as a powerful model system to understand the mechanisms that regulate aggression. Surprisingly most of the findings discovered to date have not come from genetic screens despite the fly's long and successful history of using screens to unravel its biology. Here, we highlight the tools and techniques used to successfully screen for aggression-linked behavioral elements in Drosophila and discuss the potential impact future screens have in advancing our knowledge of the underlying genetic and neural circuits governing aggression.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Gary Huang
- Department of Molecular & Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Herman A Dierick
- Department of Molecular & Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States.,Department of Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Mito T, Ishimaru Y, Watanabe T, Nakamura T, Ylla G, Noji S, Extavour CG. Cricket: The third domesticated insect. Curr Top Dev Biol 2022; 147:291-306. [PMID: 35337452 DOI: 10.1016/bs.ctdb.2022.02.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
Many researchers are using crickets to conduct research on various topics related to development and regeneration in addition to brain function, behavior, and biological clocks, using advanced functional and perturbational technologies such as genome editing. Recently, crickets have also been attracting attention as a food source for the next generation of humans. In addition, crickets are increasingly being used as disease models and biological factories for pharmaceuticals. Cricket research has thus evolved over the last century from use primarily in highly important basic research, to use in a variety of applications and practical uses. These insects are now a state-of-the-art model animal that can be obtained and maintained in large quantities at low cost. We therefore suggest that crickets are useful as a third domesticated insect for scientific research, after honeybees and silkworms, contributing to the achievement of global sustainable development goals.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Taro Mito
- Division of Bioscience and Bioindustry, Graduate School of Technology, Industrial and Social Sciences, Tokushima University, Tokushima City, Tokushima, Japan
| | - Yoshiyasu Ishimaru
- Division of Bioscience and Bioindustry, Graduate School of Technology, Industrial and Social Sciences, Tokushima University, Tokushima City, Tokushima, Japan
| | - Takahito Watanabe
- Division of Bioscience and Bioindustry, Graduate School of Technology, Industrial and Social Sciences, Tokushima University, Tokushima City, Tokushima, Japan
| | - Taro Nakamura
- Division of Evolutionary Developmental Biology, National Institute for Basic Biology, Okazaki, Aichi, Japan
| | - Guillem Ylla
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, United States; Laboratory of Bioinformatics and Genome Biology, Faculty of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Biotechnology, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland
| | - Sumihare Noji
- Division of Bioscience and Bioindustry, Graduate School of Technology, Industrial and Social Sciences, Tokushima University, Tokushima City, Tokushima, Japan
| | - Cassandra G Extavour
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, United States; Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, United States; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Chevy Chase, MD, United States.
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Zhang G, Chu Y, Jiang T, Li J, Feng L, Wu H, Wang H, Feng J. Comparative analysis of the daily brain transcriptomes of Asian particolored bat. Sci Rep 2022; 12:3876. [PMID: 35264653 PMCID: PMC8907190 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-07787-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2021] [Accepted: 02/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Daily rhythms are found in almost all organisms, and they comprise one of the most basic characteristics of living things. Daily rhythms are generated and mainly regulated by circadian clock. Bats have attracted interest from researchers because of their unique biological characteristics. However, little is known about the molecular underpinnings of daily rhythms in bats. In this study, we used RNA-Seq to uncover the daily rhythms of gene expression in the brains of Asian particolored bats over the 24-h day. Accordingly, four collected time points corresponding to four biological states, rest, sleep, wakefulness, and active, were selected. Several groups of genes with different expression levels in these four states were obtained suggested that different physiological processes were active at various biological states, including drug metabolism, signaling pathways, and the circadian rhythm. Furthermore, downstream analysis of all differentially expressed genes in these four states suggested that groups of genes showed daily rhythms in the bat brain. Especially for Per1, an important circadian clock gene was identified with rhythmic expression in the brain of Asian particolored bat. In summary, our study provides an overview of the brain transcriptomic differences in different physiological states over a 24-h cycle.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Guoting Zhang
- College of Life Science, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun, 130118, China
| | - Yujia Chu
- College of Life Science, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun, 130118, China
| | - Tinglei Jiang
- Jilin Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Resource Conservation and Utilization, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, 130117, China
| | - Jingjing Li
- College of Life Science, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun, 130118, China
| | - Lei Feng
- Jilin Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Resource Conservation and Utilization, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, 130117, China
| | - Hui Wu
- College of Life Science, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun, 130118, China
| | - Hui Wang
- College of Life Science, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun, 130118, China.
| | - Jiang Feng
- College of Life Science, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun, 130118, China.
- Jilin Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Resource Conservation and Utilization, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, 130117, China.
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Singh S, Giesecke A, Damulewicz M, Fexova S, Mazzotta GM, Stanewsky R, Dolezel D. New Drosophila Circadian Clock Mutants Affecting Temperature Compensation Induced by Targeted Mutagenesis of Timeless. Front Physiol 2019; 10:1442. [PMID: 31849700 PMCID: PMC6901700 DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2019.01442] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2019] [Accepted: 11/07/2019] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Drosophila melanogaster has served as an excellent genetic model to decipher the molecular basis of the circadian clock. Two key proteins, PERIOD (PER) and TIMELESS (TIM), are particularly well explored and a number of various arrhythmic, slow, and fast clock mutants have been identified in classical genetic screens. Interestingly, the free running period (tau, τ) is influenced by temperature in some of these mutants, whereas τ is temperature-independent in other mutant lines as in wild-type flies. This, so-called "temperature compensation" ability is compromised in the mutant timeless allele "ritsu" (tim rit ), and, as we show here, also in the tim blind allele, mapping to the same region of TIM. To test if this region of TIM is indeed important for temperature compensation, we generated a collection of new mutants and mapped functional protein domains involved in the regulation of τ and in general clock function. We developed a protocol for targeted mutagenesis of specific gene regions utilizing the CRISPR/Cas9 technology, followed by behavioral screening. In this pilot study, we identified 20 new timeless mutant alleles with various impairments of temperature compensation. Molecular characterization revealed that the mutations included short in-frame insertions, deletions, or substitutions of a few amino acids resulting from the non-homologous end joining repair process. Our protocol is a fast and cost-efficient systematic approach for functional analysis of protein-coding genes and promoter analysis in vivo. Interestingly, several mutations with a strong temperature compensation defect map to one specific region of TIM. Although the exact mechanism of how these mutations affect TIM function is as yet unknown, our in silico analysis suggests they affect a putative nuclear export signal (NES) and phosphorylation sites of TIM. Immunostaining for PER was performed on two TIM mutants that display longer τ at 25°C and complete arrhythmicity at 28°C. Consistently with the behavioral phenotype, PER immunoreactivity was reduced in circadian clock neurons of flies exposed to elevated temperatures.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Samarjeet Singh
- Institute of Entomology, Biology Centre of Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, České Budějovice, Czechia
- Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, České Budějovice, Czechia
| | - Astrid Giesecke
- Institute of Neuro- and Behavioral Biology, Westfälische Wilhelms University, Münster, Germany
| | - Milena Damulewicz
- Institute of Entomology, Biology Centre of Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, České Budějovice, Czechia
- Department of Cell Biology and Imaging, Institute of Zoology and Biomedical Research, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland
| | - Silvie Fexova
- Institute of Entomology, Biology Centre of Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, České Budějovice, Czechia
| | - Gabriella M. Mazzotta
- Institute of Entomology, Biology Centre of Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, České Budějovice, Czechia
- Department of Biology, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
| | - Ralf Stanewsky
- Institute of Neuro- and Behavioral Biology, Westfälische Wilhelms University, Münster, Germany
| | - David Dolezel
- Institute of Entomology, Biology Centre of Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, České Budějovice, Czechia
- Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, České Budějovice, Czechia
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Abstract
The power of Drosophila melanogaster as a model organism lies in its ability to be used for large-scale genetic screens with the capacity to uncover the genetic basis of biological processes. In particular, genetic screens for circadian behavior, which have been performed since 1971, allowed researchers to make groundbreaking discoveries on multiple levels: they discovered that there is a genetic basis for circadian behavior, they identified the so-called core clock genes that govern this process, and they started to paint a detailed picture of the molecular functions of these clock genes and their encoded proteins. Since the discovery that fruit flies sleep in 2000, researchers have successfully been using genetic screening to elucidate the many questions surrounding this basic animal behavior. In this chapter, we briefly recall the history of circadian rhythm and sleep screens and then move on to describe techniques currently employed for mutagenesis and genetic screening in the field. The emphasis lies on comparing the newer approaches of transgenic RNA interference (RNAi) to classical forms of mutagenesis, in particular in their application to circadian behavior and sleep. We discuss the different screening approaches in light of the literature and published and unpublished sleep and rhythm screens utilizing ethyl methanesulfonate mutagenesis and transgenic RNAi from our lab.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sofia Axelrod
- Laboratory of Genetics, The Rockefeller University, New York, USA
| | - Lino Saez
- Laboratory of Genetics, The Rockefeller University, New York, USA
| | - Michael W Young
- Laboratory of Genetics, The Rockefeller University, New York, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Boerjan B, Cardoen D, Verdonck R, Caers J, Schoofs L. Insect omics research coming of age1This review is part of a virtual symposium on recent advances in understanding a variety of complex regulatory processes in insect physiology and endocrinology, including development, metabolism, cold hardiness, food intake and digestion, and diuresis, through the use of omics technologies in the postgenomic era. CAN J ZOOL 2012. [DOI: 10.1139/z2012-010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
As more and more insect genomes are fully sequenced and annotated, omics technologies, including transcriptomic, proteomic, peptidomics, and metobolomic profiling, as well as bioinformatics, can be used to exploit this huge amount of sequence information for the study of different biological aspects of insect model organisms. Omics experiments are an elegant way to deliver candidate genes, the function of which can be further explored by genetic tools for functional inactivation or overexpression of the genes of interest. Such tools include mainly RNA interference and are currently being developed in diverse insect species. In this manuscript, we have reviewed how omics technologies were integrated and applied in insect biology.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Bart Boerjan
- Research Group of Functional Genomics and Proteomics, KU Leuven, Naamsestraat 59, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Dries Cardoen
- Research Group of Functional Genomics and Proteomics, KU Leuven, Naamsestraat 59, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium
- Laboratory of Entomology, KU Leuven, Naamsestraat 59, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Rik Verdonck
- Research Group of Molecular Developmental Physiology and Signal Transduction, KU Leuven, Naamsestraat 59, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Jelle Caers
- Research Group of Functional Genomics and Proteomics, KU Leuven, Naamsestraat 59, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Liliane Schoofs
- Research Group of Functional Genomics and Proteomics, KU Leuven, Naamsestraat 59, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Dolezelova E, Dolezel D, Hall JC. Rhythm defects caused by newly engineered null mutations in Drosophila's cryptochrome gene. Genetics 2007; 177:329-45. [PMID: 17720919 PMCID: PMC2013679 DOI: 10.1534/genetics.107.076513] [Citation(s) in RCA: 120] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Much of the knowledge about cryptochrome function in Drosophila stems from analyzing the cryb mutant. Several features of this variant's light responsiveness imply either that CRYb retains circadian-photoreceptive capacities or that additional CRY-independent light-input routes subserve these processes. Potentially to resolve these issues, we generated cry knock-out mutants (cry0's) by gene replacement. They behaved in an anomalously rhythmic manner in constant light (LL). However, cry0 flies frequently exhibited two separate circadian components in LL, not observed in most previous cryb analyses. Temperature-dependent circadian phenotypes exhibited by cry(0) flies suggest that CRY is involved in core pacemaking. Further locomotor experiments combined cry0 with an externally blinding mutation (norpAP24), which caused the most severe decrements of circadian photoreception observed so far. cryb cultures were shown previously to exhibit either aperiodic or rhythmic eclosion in separate studies. We found cry0 to eclose in a solidly periodic manner in light:dark cycles or constant darkness. Furthermore, both cry0 and cryb eclosed rhythmically in LL. These findings indicate that the novel cry0 type causes more profound defects than does the cryb mutation, implying that CRYb retains residual activity. Because some norpAP24 cry0 individuals can resynchronize to novel photic regimes, an as-yet undetermined light-input route exists in Drosophila.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Eva Dolezelova
- Department of Biology, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts 02454, USA
| | | | | |
Collapse
|
8
|
Hall JC, Chang DC, Dolezelova E. Principles and problems revolving around rhythm-related genetic variants. COLD SPRING HARBOR SYMPOSIA ON QUANTITATIVE BIOLOGY 2007; 72:215-232. [PMID: 18419279 DOI: 10.1101/sqb.2007.72.039] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/26/2023]
Abstract
Much of what is known about the regulation of circadian rhythms has stemmed from the induction, recognition, or manufacture of genetic variants. Such investigations have been especially salient in chronobiological analyses of Drosophila. Many starting points for elucidation of rhythmic processes operating in this insect entailed the isolation of mutants or the design of engineered gene modifications. Various features of the principles and practices associated with the genetic approach toward understanding clock functions, and chronobiologically related ones, are discussed from perspectives that are largely genetic as such, although intertwined with certain neurogenetic and molecular-genetic concerns when appropriate. Key themes in this treatment connect with the power and problems associated with multiply mutant forms of rhythm-related genes, with the opportunistic or problematical aspects of multigenic variants that are in play (sometimes surprisingly), and with a question as to how forceful chronogenetic inferences have been in terms of elucidating the mechanisms of circadian pacemaking.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- J C Hall
- Department of Biology, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts 02454, USA
| | | | | |
Collapse
|
9
|
Abstract
The chronobiological system of Drosophila is considered from the perspective of rhythm-regulated genes. These factors are enumerated and discussed not so much in terms of how the gene products are thought to act on behalf of circadian-clock mechanisms, but with special emphasis on where these molecules are manufactured within the organism. Therefore, with respect to several such cell and tissue types in the fly head, what is the "systems meaning" of a given structure's function insofar as regulation of rest-activity cycles is concerned? (Systematic oscillation of daily behavior is the principal overt phenotype analyzed in studies of Drosophila chronobiology). In turn, how do the several separate sets of clock-gene-expressing cells interact--or in some cases act in parallel--such that intricacies of the fly's sleep-wake cycles are mediated? Studying Drosophila chrono-genetics as a system-based endeavor also encompasses the fact that rhythm-related genes generate their products in many tissues beyond neural ones and during all stages of the life cycle. What, then, is the meaning of these widespread gene-expression patterns? This question is addressed with regard to circadian rhythms outside the behavioral arena, by considering other kinds of temporally based behaviors, and by contemplating how broadly systemic expression of rhythm-related genes connects with even more pleiotropic features of Drosophila biology. Thus, chronobiologically connected factors functioning within this insect comprise an increasingly salient example of gene versatility--multi-faceted usages of, and complex interactions among, entities that set up an organism's overall wherewithal to form and function. A corollary is that studying Drosophila development and adult-fly actions, even when limited to analysis of rhythm-systems phenomena, involves many of the animal's tissues and phenotypic capacities. It follows that such chronobiological experiments are technically demanding, including the necessity for investigators to possess wide-ranging expertise. Therefore, this chapter includes several different kinds of Methods set-asides. These techniques primers necessarily lack comprehensiveness, but they include certain discursive passages about why a given method can or should be applied and concerning real-world applicability of the pertinent rhythm-related technologies.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jeffrey C Hall
- Department of Biology, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts 02454, USA
| |
Collapse
|