Navigational strategies underlying temporal phototaxis in <i>Drosophila</i> larvae

Zhu, Maxwell L; Herrera, Kristian J.; Vogt, Katrin; Bahl, Armin

doi:10.1242/jeb.242428

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 25 publications

(33 reference statements)

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“…Phototaxis occurs in many domains of life, from bacteria and unicellular eukaryotes (Berthold et al, 2008;Nultsch, 1973) to plants (Legris and Boccaccini, 2020;Thimann and Curry, 1960) and animals (Brockerhoff et al, 1995;Chen and Engert, 2014;Hadler, 1964;Kane et al, 2013;Zhu et al, 2021). While phototaxis benefits photosynthetic organisms by allowing them to find sources of energy (Jékely, 2009), the purpose of phototaxis in heterotrophic animals that do not derive energy from light is not as obvious.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Algorithms underlying flexible phototaxis in larval zebrafish

Chen

Deb

Bahl

et al. 2021

Journal of Experimental Biology

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To thrive, organisms must maintain physiological and environmental variables in suitable ranges. Given that these variables undergo constant fluctuations over varying time scales, how do biological control systems maintain control over these values? We explored this question in the context of phototactic behavior in larval zebrafish. We demonstrate that larval zebrafish use phototaxis to maintain environmental luminance at a set point, that the value of this set point fluctuates on a time scale of seconds when environmental luminance changes, and that it is determined by calculating the mean input across both sides of the visual field. These results expand on previous studies of flexible phototaxis in larval zebrafish; they suggest that larval zebrafish exert homeostatic control over the luminance of their surroundings, and that feedback from the surroundings drives allostatic changes to the luminance set point. As such, we describe a novel behavioral algorithm with which larval zebrafish exert control over a sensory variable.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Algorithms underlying flexible phototaxis in larval zebrafish

Chen

Deb

Bahl

et al. 2021

Journal of Experimental Biology

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A simple high-throughput method for automated detection of Drosophila melanogaster light-dependent behaviours

et al. 2022

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Background Like most living organisms, the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster exhibits strong and diverse behavioural reactions to light. Drosophila is a diurnal animal that displays both short- and long-term responses to light, important for, instance, in avoidance and light wavelength preference, regulation of eclosion, courtship, and activity, and provides an important model organism for understanding the regulation of circadian rhythms both at molecular and circuit levels. However, the assessment and comparison of light-based behaviours is still a challenge, mainly due to the lack of a standardised platform to measure behaviour and different protocols created across studies. Here, we describe the Drosophila Interactive System for Controlled Optical manipulations (DISCO), a low-cost, automated, high-throughput device that records the flies’ activity using infrared beams while performing LED light manipulations. Results To demonstrate the effectiveness of this tool and validate its potential as a standard platform, we developed a number of distinct assays, including measuring the locomotor response of flies exposed to sudden darkness (lights-off) stimuli. Both white-eyed and red-eyed wild-type flies exhibit increased activity after the application of stimuli, while no changes can be observed in Fmr1 null allele flies, a model of fragile X syndrome. Next, to demonstrate the use of DISCO in long-term protocols, we monitored the circadian rhythm of the flies for 48 h while performing an alcohol preference test. We show that increased alcohol consumption happens intermittently throughout the day, especially in the dark phases. Finally, we developed a feedback-loop algorithm to implement a place preference test based on the flies’ innate aversion to blue light and preference for green light. We show that both white-eyed and red-eyed wild-type flies were able to learn to avoid the blue-illuminated zones. Conclusions Our results demonstrate the versatility of DISCO for a range of protocols, indicating that this platform can be used in a variety of ways to study light-dependent behaviours in flies.

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Navigational strategies underlying temporal phototaxis in Drosophila larvae

Cited by 2 publications

References 25 publications

Algorithms underlying flexible phototaxis in larval zebrafish

Algorithms underlying flexible phototaxis in larval zebrafish

A simple high-throughput method for automated detection of Drosophila melanogaster light-dependent behaviours

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