The Molecular Genetics of Male Behavior of Drosophila

这个奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案(公法111-5)资助的。大脑是如何工作的是一个重要而复杂的问题。大脑的众多功能之一是调节复杂的行为，例如支配个体之间互动的行为。众所周知，行为是由基因和环境共同决定的，而且这两种影响密切相关。此外，大脑功能也受到荷尔蒙的调节，这种调节方式还不是很清楚。这个项目研究了这种激素样因素及其对果蝇交配行为的影响，果蝇是一种模式生物，拥有非常强大的遗传和分子工具，可以用来实验测试潜在功能的机制。这允许更容易地检查和操纵这些因素。将制造出缺乏它们的突变果蝇，并将对它们进行观察，以研究这如何改变果蝇的交配行为。从这些研究中可以得出一般性的结论，因为荷尔蒙因素在许多生物体中的作用相似。此外，该项目还研究了另一个重要问题：这些因子如何通过血脑屏障，在包括人类在内的大多数高等生物中，血脑屏障是保护大脑的细胞层。这些研究将深入了解荷尔蒙影响大脑的方式，以及荷尔蒙如何影响行为。最终，它们将有助于更好地了解大脑是如何工作的。这些研究将在美国最多元化的大学之一进行，该大学培养了许多来自代表不足的群体的学生。本科生和研究生都将参与研究，并接受如何进行科学研究的培训。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).How the brain works is an important and complicated question. One of the many functions of the brain is to regulate complex behaviors, such as behaviors that govern the interaction among individuals. It is known that behavior is guided by both genes and the environment, and that these two influences interact closely. In addition, brain function is also regulated by hormones in ways that are not well understood. This project studies such hormone-like factors and their influence on the mating behavior of fruit flies, a model organism that has very powerful genetic and molecular tools available to experimentally test mechanisms underlying function. This allows easier examination and manipulation of these factors. Mutant flies will be made that lack them, and they will be observed to study how that changes the mating behavior of the fly. It is possible to draw general conclusions from these studies, because hormonal factors work similarly in many organisms. In addition, the project examines another important question: How these factors can get through the blood brain barrier, a cell layer that protects the brain in most higher organisms, including humans. These studies will give insight into the ways hormones affect the brain, and how this influences behavior. Ultimately, they will help to better understand how the brain works. These studies will be performed at one of the most diverse Universities in the United States that educates many students from underrepresented groups. Both undergraduate and graduate students will participate in the research and be trained in how to perform scientific studies.