title: Trade-off between toxicity and signal detection orchestrated by frequency- and density-dependent genes.
abstract: Behaviors in insects are partly highly efficient Bayesian processes that fulfill exploratory tasks ending with the colonization of new ecological niches. The foraging (for) gene in Drosophila encodes a cGMP-dependent protein kinase (PKG). It has been extensively described as a frequency-dependent gene and its transcripts are differentially expressed between individuals, reflecting the population density context. Some for transcripts, when expressed in a population at high density for many generations, concomitantly trigger strong dispersive behavior associated with foraging activity. Moreover, genotype-by-environment interaction (GEI) analysis has highlighted a dormant role of for in energetic metabolism in a food deprivation context. In our current report, we show that alleles of for encoding different cGMP-dependent kinase isoforms influence the oxidation of aldehyde groups of aromatic molecules emitted by plants via Aldh-III and a phosphorylatable adaptor. The enhanced efficiency of oxidation of aldehyde odorants into carboxyl groups by the action of for lessens their action and toxicity, which should facilitate exploration and guidance in a complex odor environment. Our present data provide evidence that optimal foraging performance requires the fast metabolism of volatile compounds emitted by plants to avoid neurosensory saturation and that the frequency-dependent genes that trigger dispersion influence these processes.
authors.affiliation: UMR INRA/CNRS/UNSA 6243, University of Nice Sophia Antipolis, Sophia Antipolis, France.
authors.forename: Laury
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Arthaud
authors.forename: Selim Ben
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Rokia-Mille
authors.forename: Hussein
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Raad
authors.forename: Aviv
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dombrovsky
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Prevost
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Capovilla
authors.forename: Alain
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Robichon
mesh_terms: D000444:Aldehyde Dehydrogenase / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D017869:Cyclic GMP-Dependent Protein Kinases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000235:genetics*; D004777:Environment; D017344:Genes, Insect; D005838:Genotype; D019076:Transgenes / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: C030863:corneal protein 54, bovine; D000444:Aldehyde Dehydrogenase; D017869:Cyclic GMP-Dependent Protein Kinases