title: Growing pains: development of the larval nocifensive response in Drosophila.
abstract: The ability to perceive and avoid harmful substances or stimuli is key to an organism's survival. The neuronal cognate of the perception of pain is known as nociception, and the reflexive motion to avoid pain is termed the nocifensive response. As the nocifensive response is an ancient and evolutionarily conserved behavioral response to nociceptive stimuli, it is amenable to study in relatively simple and genetically tractable model systems such as Drosophila. Recent studies have taken advantage of the useful properties of Drosophila larvae to begin elucidating the neuronal connectivity and molecular machinery underlying the nocifensive response. However, these studies have primarily utilized the third-instar larval stage, and many mutations that potentially influence nociception survive only until earlier larval stages. Here we characterize the nocifensive responses of Drosophila throughout larval development and find dramatic changes in the nature of the behavior. Notably, we find that prior to the third instar, larvae are unable to perform the characteristic "corkscrew-like roll" behavior. Also, we identify an avoidance behavior consistent with a nocifensive response that is present immediately after larval hatching, representing a paradigm that may be useful in examining mutations with an early lethal phenotype.
authors.affiliation: School of Systems Biology, George Mason University, Manassas, Virginia 20120, USA.
authors.forename: Mikolaj J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Sulkowski
authors.forename: Mathieu S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Kurosawa
authors.forename: Daniel N
authors.initials: DN
authors.lastname: Cox
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000502:physiology; D006358:Hot Temperature / Q000009:adverse effects; D007814:Larva / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology; D008027:Light / Q000009:adverse effects; D009154:Mutation; D059225:Nociception; D010641:Phenotype