title: Alleles underlying larval foraging behaviour influence adult dispersal in nature.
abstract: The dispersal and migration of organisms have resulted in the colonisation of nearly every possible habitat and ultimately the extraordinary diversity of life. Animal dispersal tendencies are commonly heterogeneous (e.g. long vs. short) and non-random suggesting that phenotypic and genotypic variability between individuals can contribute to population-level heterogeneity in dispersal. Using laboratory and field experiments, we demonstrate that natural allelic variation in a gene underlying a foraging polymorphism in larval fruit flies (for), also influences their dispersal tendencies as adults. Rover flies (for(R) ; higher foraging activity) have consistently greater dispersal tendencies and are more likely to disperse longer distances than sitter flies (for(s) ; lower foraging activity). Increasing for expression in the brain and nervous system increases dispersal in sitter flies. Our study supports the notion that variation in dispersal can be driven by intrinsic variation in food-dependent search behaviours and confirms that single gene pleiotropic effects can contribute to population-level heterogeneity in dispersal.
authors.affiliation: Integrative Behaviour and Neuroscience Group, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Toronto Scarborough, Toronto, ON, M1C 1A4, Canada; Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, M5S 3B2, Canada.
authors.forename: Allan H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Edelsparre
authors.forename: Anders
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vesterberg
authors.forename: Jang H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.forename: Milad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Anwari
authors.forename: Mark J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Fitzpatrick
mesh_terms: D063147:Animal Distribution / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified; D001070:Appetitive Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*; D005518:Food Preferences / Q000502:physiology*; D014644:Genetic Variation; D012044:Regression Analysis; D013048:Specimen Handling / Q000379:methods
keywords: Animal personalities; behaviour genetics; cGMP-dependent protein kinase; candidate gene approach; dispersal; foraging; movement ecology; pleiotropy; transgenic