title: Genetic variation in food choice behaviour of amino acid-deprived Drosophila.
abstract: To understand homeostatic regulation in insects, we need to understand the mechanisms by which they respond to external stimuli to maintain the internal milieu. Our previous study showed that Drosophila melanogaster exhibit specific amino acid preferences. Here, we used the D.melanogaster Genetic Reference Panel (DGRP), which is comprised of multiple inbred lines derived from a natural population, to examine how amino acid preference changes depending on the internal nutritional state in different lines. We performed a two-choice preference test and observed genetic variations in the response to amino acid deprivation. For example, a high-responding line showed an enhanced preference for amino acids even after only 1day of deprivation and responded to a fairly low concentration of amino acids. Conversely, a low-responding line showed no increased preference for amino acids after deprivation. We compared the gene expression profiles between selected high- and the low-responding lines and performed SNP analyses. We found several groups of genes putatively involved in altering amino acid preference. These results will contribute to future studies designed to explore how the genetic architecture of an organism evolves to adapt to different nutritional environments.
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Systems Life Sciences, Kyushu University, Hakozaki, Fukuoka 812-8581, Japan; Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Kyushu University, Hakozaki, Fukuoka 812-8581, Japan.
authors.forename: Naoko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Toshima
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Systems Life Sciences, Kyushu University, Hakozaki, Fukuoka 812-8581, Japan; Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Kyushu University, Hakozaki, Fukuoka 812-8581, Japan.
authors.forename: Chieko
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hara
authors.affiliation: IZKF Service Unit for Microarray Applications and Bioinformatic Analyses of High-Throughput Data, University of Würzburg, Versbacher Str. 7, D-97078 Würzburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Claus-Jürgen
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Scholz
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Systems Life Sciences, Kyushu University, Hakozaki, Fukuoka 812-8581, Japan; Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Kyushu University, Hakozaki, Fukuoka 812-8581, Japan. Electronic address: tanimura@kyudai.jp.
authors.forename: Teiichi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tanimura
mesh_terms: D000596:Amino Acids / Q000172:deficiency*; D000818:Animals; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D005518:Food Preferences / Q000502:physiology*; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D014644:Genetic Variation; D008297:Male; D009747:Nutritional Physiological Phenomena / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D000596:Amino Acids
keywords: Feeding behaviour; Genomics; Homeostasis; Natural population; Nutrition; Taste