Molecular basis of adaptation in a chemosensory system

项目摘要 这个项目的长期目标是在分子和细胞水平上阐明化学感觉 系统的功能和演化是为了产生适应新环境的新行为。它专注于 生物学中最古老和最基本的问题之一：感觉系统如何适应 以开发一个新的环境。 铃木果蝇为破译化学感觉机制提供了一个极好的机会 为其独特的产卵行为作出了贡献。而其他种类的果蝇则在发酵的果实中产卵 铃木毒蛾在成熟的果实中产卵，破坏庄稼，毫无价值。苍蝇的产卵偏好很大程度上是基于 在品味上。这一建议利用了关于D口味机制的丰富知识。 黑猩猩。我们的目的是阐明这些机制是如何在铃木疫霉中改变以产生偏好的。 对于成熟的水果，而不是过熟的水果。 第一个目标将提供对候选人的表达和功能需求的严格分析 铃鹿产卵转移的基因研究。这项实验计划是为了检验有关分子的假说。 铃鹿产卵转移的机制。 第二个目标是对候选基因在产卵偏好中的作用进行严格的分析。 寻找个别的候选产卵线索。拟议中的实验旨在识别关键产卵 以测试它们的行为，并检查候选基因在它们产卵偏好中的作用。 第三个目标是利用电生理学的最新进展，允许前所未有的 观察味觉系统是如何在细胞水平上进化的。它将阐明一个重大转变的细胞学基础 具有巨大经济影响的产卵行为。它可能会破译味觉编码的分子逻辑 一种复杂的自然刺激。 了解化学感觉系统如何运作和进化的进展可能会带来新的手段 控制农业病虫害和人类疾病的病媒，折磨着数亿人 每年。

Project Summary The long-term goal of this project is to elucidate at the molecular and cellular levels how chemosensory systems function and evolve so as to generate new behaviors that are adaptive to new environments. It focuses on one of the most ancient and fundamental problems in biology: how sensory systems adapt to allow an organism to exploit a new environment. Drosophila suzukii provides an excellent opportunity to decipher chemosensory mechanisms that have contributed to its unique oviposition behavior. Whereas other species of Drosophila lay eggs in fermenting fruit of no value, D. suzukii lays eggs in ripe fruit, ruining crops. The oviposition preferences of flies are based largely on taste. This proposal takes advantage of the wealth of knowledge about the mechanisms of taste in D. melanogaster. We aim to elucidate how these mechanisms have changed in D. suzukii to produce a preference for ripe, as opposed to overripe, fruits. The first aim will provide a rigorous analysis of the expression and functional requirements of candidate genes in the oviposition shift of D. suzukii. The experimental plan is designed to test hypotheses as to molecular mechanisms underlying the oviposition shift of D. suzukii. The second aim will provide a rigorous analysis of the role of candidate genes in oviposition preference for individual candidate oviposition cues. The proposed experiments are designed to identify key oviposition cues, to test them behaviorally, and to examine the role of candidate genes in the oviposition preference to them. The third aim takes advantage of a recent advance in electrophysiology that allows an unprecedented view of how a taste system has evolved at the cellular level. It will elucidate the cellular basis of a major shift in oviposition behavior that has immense economic implications. It may decipher the molecular logic of taste coding of a complex natural stimulus. Advances in understanding how the chemosensory systems function and evolve may lead to new means of controlling agricultural pests and insect vectors of human diseases, which afflict hundreds of millions of people each year.