The formation of a nervous system capable of integrating outside inputs, making decisions, and coordinating motor outputs is critical for a healthy life. To uncover basic principles that guide this process, this project investigates how a developmental gene in fruit flies controls their reproductive behaviors and nervous system development. The project involves the application of cutting-edge genetic and neuroscience tools to identify the behaviorally-relevant neurons and their location within the key neural circuit, uncover how the gene contributes to the development of the circuit, the connections of the gene-expressing neurons within the circuit and their function, and what genes important for the behavioral output are regulated by the developmental gene. This project also includes an education plan that integrates high school and undergraduate students into the research activities. A discovery-based project is introduced to two Philadelphia-area high schools, including one with students from predominantly low-income households. This aspect of the project examines whether authentic research experiences can enhance the attitudes of high school students towards STEM disciplines.
This work investigates the gene and neural networks that underlie sexual behavior in Drosophila focusing on the dissatisfaction (dsf) gene. Dsf encodes a tailless-like developmental nuclear receptor, mutations in which cause sex-specific courtship and fertility defects in both sexes. Preliminary work mapped most DSF-controlled phenotypes to an exceedingly sparse number (i.e., 3+) of interneurons. This project tests the hypothesis that dsf contributes to behavior by regulating the expression of target genes that specify the function and connectivity of discrete neural circuit elements for courtship. The project includes delineation of the position of the identified interneurons in the circuits that control courtship; determination of how dsf contributes to neurodevelopment and circuit connectivity; and identification of the genes that dsf transcriptionally regulates. A key outcome of this work is the establishment of causal links between the activity of dsf, the development and function of the neural circuits it influences, and courtship behavior. Additionally, this work will set the stage for understanding how dsf acts with other sexual differentiation regulatory genes either within or between neurons to pattern behavior.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
