Characterizing a Target Locus of a Behavioral Genetic Hierarchy

动物表现出一套生存和繁殖成功所必需的行为。许多研究人员试图将特定的人类基因与行为联系起来，但遗传和环境相互作用的复杂性，以及这些基因的多种功能，使得确定它们变得困难。确定行为的遗传基础是一项重要的智力挑战，因为我们目前的知识不允许我们理解基因表达是如何导致特定行为结果的。黑腹果蝇的繁殖是研究复杂行为的一个极好的系统。最近发现的一个产卵行为的必要位点，logjam (loj)，在雌性果蝇的中枢神经系统和卵巢中表达。该基因预测的蛋白产物与一个重要的细胞内运输蛋白家族具有同源性，这些蛋白在许多分类群中都是进化保守的，包括哺乳动物、酵母和植物。本提案的目的是表征loj及其在产卵行为中的作用。拟议中的实验结合了分子、遗传和细胞技术，以找到这些问题的答案，并进一步了解控制遗传和分子网络的原理，这些原理必须发挥作用，以确定行为结果。该研究项目将加强佐治亚理工学院的研究，因为首席研究员将提供遗传模型系统和发育生物学方面的专业知识。这项研究计划的一个重要目标是为培养本科生和研究生科学家做出贡献。对公众来说，行为的基因控制是一个有趣的话题，所以PI将把这个焦点作为一种手段，通过在小学演讲和为K-12教师开放我的实验室来吸引非科学家，特别是儿童和教师，参与科学问题。

GINGER E. CARNEY 0321473LAY ABSTRACTAnimals display a suite of behaviors necessary for their existence and reproductive success. Many researchers have attempted to correlate specific human genes with behaviors, but the complexity of genetic and environmental interactions, as well as the multiple functions of these genes, makes it difficult to definitively identify them. Determining the genetic basis of behaviors is an important intellectual challenge because our current knowledge does not allow us to understand how gene expression results in particular behavioral outcomes.Reproduction in Drosophila melanogaster is an excellent system for the study of complex behaviors. One recently identified locus necessary for egg-laying behavior, logjam (loj), is expressed in the female Drosophila central nervous system and ovaries. This gene's predicted protein product shares homology with a family of important intracellular trafficking proteins that are evolutionarily conserved across a variety of taxa, including mammals, yeasts, and plants. The objective of this proposal is to characterize loj and its role in egg-laying behavior. The proposed experiments use a combination of molecular, genetic and cellular techniques to arrive at answers to these questions and to further general understanding of principles governing genetic and molecular networks that must function to specify a behavioral outcome.This research program will enhance research at the Georgia Institute of Technology because the Principle Investigator will provide expertise in genetic model systems and developmental biology. One important goal of this research plan is to contribute to the training of undergraduate and graduate scientists. The genetic control of behavior is an interesting topic to the public at large, so the PI will use this focus as a means to engage non-scientists, particularly children and teachers, in scientific issues by talking at elementary schools and opening my lab to summer projects for K-12 teachers.