Imprinting learning in Drosophila

该奖项是根据2009年《美国复苏和再投资法案》(公法111-5)提供资金的。在关键的发育阶段，重要的环境线索，如母亲的脸或家的气味，都会储存在幼小动物的记忆中或“印在”它们的记忆中。在这种能力下，印记作为一种重要的生存机制，可以对动物的行为产生持久的影响。王博士的实验室已经获得证据，证明果蝇表现出一种强大的嗅觉印记形式。在成年期早期接触某种气味会极大地增加苍蝇在后期对该气味的偏好。尽管在不同物种中对嗅觉印迹的细胞和分子机制的研究取得了重大进展，但特定神经元的神经可塑性与嗅觉印迹行为之间的因果关系仍难以确定。果蝇的解剖结构简单，再加上这种模式生物的复杂遗传工具，为将神经活动与行为输出联系起来的研究提供了独特的优势。王博士和他的同事将使用分子遗传学、行为研究和光学成像来研究果蝇的嗅觉印记。这项实验旨在揭示印记行为背后的神经回路，这将深入了解社会依恋和个人偏好发展的机制。国家科学基金会对该项目的支持将在几个层面上产生更广泛的影响。首先，在理解早期经验如何塑造行为偏好方面取得进展，可以阐明基本原则，这些原则可能会为未来在其他生物体中研究印记的努力提供种子和信息。其次，这项提议的参与者所获得的经验将对将现代成像技术和定量分析纳入本科生物学课程至关重要。第三，对该项目的支持还将提供机会，以多学科的方法培训新一代科学家。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). During critical developmental stages, important environmental cues such as the face of one's mother or the smell of home are stored or "imprinted" into the memories of young animals. In this capacity, imprinting serves as an important survival mechanism and can have enduring effects on animal behaviors. Dr. Wang's laboratory has obtained evidence to demonstrate that the fruit fly Drosophila exhibits a robust form of olfactory imprinting. Exposure to a given odorant in early adulthood dramatically increases a fly's preference for that odorant at a later stage. Despite significant progress into the cellular and molecular mechanisms of olfactory imprinting in diverse species, causality between neural plasticity in specific neurons and olfactory imprinting behavior has been difficult to establish. The anatomical simplicity of Drosophila, coupled with sophisticated genetic tools for this model organism, confers unique advantages for studies linking neural activity to behavioral output. Dr. Wang and colleagues will use molecular genetics, behavioral studies, and optical imaging, to study olfactory imprinting in Drosophila. The proposed experiments aims to reveal the neural circuit underlying the imprinting behavior, which will yield insights into mechanisms of social attachment and development of individual preferences.NSF support for this project will have broader impact at several levels. First, making inroads into understanding how early experience shapes behavioral preferences can elucidate basic principles that may seed and inform future efforts in the study of imprinting in other organisms. Second, experience gained by the participants of this proposal will be vital in incorporating modern imaging techniques and quantitative analysis into the undergraduate biological curriculum. Third, the support of this project will also provide opportunities to train a new generation of scientists in a multidisciplinary approach.