Locomotor Behaviour and Clock Neurons Organisation in the Agricultural Pest Drosophila suzukii

Abstract

Drosophila suzukii (Matsumara) also called Spotted Wing Drosophila (SWD), is an invasive pest species originally from Asia that has now spread widely across Europe and North America. The majority of drosophilids including the best known Drosophila melanogaster only breed on decaying fruits. On the contrary, the presence of a strong serrated ovipositor and behavioural and metabolic adaptations allow D. suzukii to lay eggs inside healthy, ripening fruits that are still on the plant. Here we present an analysis of the rhythmic locomotor activity behaviour of D. suzukii under several laboratory settings. Moreover, we identify the canonical clock neurons in this species by reporting the expression pattern of the major clock proteins in the brain. Interestingly, a fundamentally similar organisation of the clock neurons network between D. melanogaster and D. suzukii does not correspond to similar characteristics in rhythmic locomotor activity behaviour.

Life at High Latitudes Does Not Require Circadian Behavioral Rhythmicity under Constant Darkness

“…In all three species, the spatial (Figures 1C and 1D) and temporal (Figure 4) expression patterns of PDP1, CRY, and PDF allowed us to identify as bona fide clock neurons the same main clusters known from D. melanogaster and other low-latitude species [6,7,12,13,17,18]. These were dorsal neurons (DNs) located in the dorsal protocerebrum and lateral neurons (LNs) in the lateral cell body rind (Figures 1C and 1E).…”

“…C. costata, pararufithorax, and procnemis Carry a D. melanogaster-like Clock, Regardless of Their Latitudinal Distribution Cosmopolitan and low-latitude fly species (such as D. melanogaster, D. hydei, Z. indianus, and B. oleae) generally co-express the photopigment cryptochrome (CRY) and the neuropeptide pigment dispersing factor (PDF) in two clusters of ventrolateral clock neurons (i.e., small [s-LNvs] and large [l-LNvs]) [6,7,12,13]. In contrast, all high-latitude Drosophila species so far investigated do not express CRY in the l-LNvs and PDF in the s-LNvs but express PDF in some cells located in the dorsal brain [4][5][6] (Figure 1A).…”

Phylogenomics of Opsin Genes in Diptera Reveals Lineage-Specific Events and Contrasting Evolutionary Dynamics in Anopheles and Drosophila

“…3 ). These changes are interesting from an applicative point of view, as it is possible that they are linked to the peculiar circadian activity ( Hansen et al 2019 ), color recognition pattern ( Little et al 2019 ), and even gustatory preferences ( Crava et al 2016 ; Leung et al 2020 ) associated with this species’ peculiar ecological lifestyle. In Anopheles , opsin function is less well understood than Drosophila ( Montell and Zwiebel 2016 ) .…”

The diverging evolutionary history of opsin genes in Diptera

“…We found that the agricultural pest Drosophila suzukii is characterized by an increased selective pressure affecting Rh6 and Rh7 (Figure 3). These changes are interesting from an applicative point of view, as they may be linked to the peculiar circadian activity (Hansen et al 2019), colour recognition pattern (Little et al 2019), and even gustatory preferences(Crava et al 2016; Leung et al 2020) deriving from the evolution of this species’ new ecological lifestyle. In Anopheles the function of opsins is less understood when compared to Drosophila (Montell & Zwiebel 2016).…”