Variation and Variability in Drosophila Grooming Behavior

Abstract

Behavioral differences can be observed between species or populations (variation) or between individuals in a genetically similar population (variability). Here, we investigate genetic differences as a possible source of variation and variability in Drosophila grooming. Grooming confers survival and social benefits. Grooming features of five Drosophila species exposed to a dust irritant were analyzed. Aspects of grooming behavior, such as anterior to posterior progression, were conserved between and within species. However, significant differences in activity levels, proportion of time spent in different cleaning movements, and grooming syntax were identified between species. All species tested showed individual variability in the order and duration of action sequences. Genetic diversity was not found to correlate with grooming variability within a species: melanogaster flies bred to increase or decrease genetic heterogeneity exhibited similar variability in grooming syntax. Individual flies observed on consecutive days also showed grooming sequence variability. Standardization of sensory input using optogenetics reduced but did not eliminate this variability. In aggregate, these data suggest that sequence variability may be a conserved feature of grooming behavior itself. These results also demonstrate that large genetic differences result in distinguishable grooming phenotypes (variation), but that genetic heterogeneity within a population does not necessarily correspond to an increase in the range of grooming behavior (variability).

Administration of Stephania tetrandra to Drosophila melanogaster to create obsessive compulsive disorder model

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Precise Quantification of Behavioral Individuality From 80 Million Decisions Across 183,000 Flies

“…High-throughput, automated behavioral assays have been used to investigate the variability of Drosophila behavior ( Mollá-Albaladejo and Sánchez-Alcañiz, 2021 ; Mueller et al, 2021 ; Steymans et al, 2021 ; Werkhoven et al, 2021 ). The species’ deep genetic toolkit facilitates the study of proximate mechanisms controlling variability such as neurotransmitters ( Kain et al, 2012 ; Honegger et al, 2020 ), neural circuits ( Buchanan et al, 2015 ; Skutt-Kakaria et al, 2019 ; Honegger et al, 2020 ; Linneweber et al, 2020 ), genes ( Kain et al, 2012 ; Ayroles et al, 2015 ; Wu et al, 2018 ), environmental variation ( Akhund-Zade et al, 2019 ), and social effects ( Alisch et al, 2018 ; Versace et al, 2020 ).…”

A pair of commissural command neurons induces Drosophila wing grooming

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