title: Genetics of Intraspecies Variation in Avoidance Behavior Induced by a Thermal Stimulus in Caenorhabditis elegans.
abstract: Individuals within a species vary in their responses to a wide range of stimuli, partly as a result of differences in their genetic makeup. Relatively little is known about the genetic and neuronal mechanisms contributing to diversity of behavior in natural populations. By studying intraspecies variation in innate avoidance behavior to thermal stimuli in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, we uncovered genetic principles of how different components of a behavioral response can be altered in nature to generate behavioral diversity. Using a thermal pulse assay, we uncovered heritable variation in responses to a transient temperature increase. Quantitative trait locus mapping revealed that separate components of this response were controlled by distinct genomic loci. The loci we identified contributed to variation in components of thermal pulse avoidance behavior in an additive fashion. Our results show that the escape behavior induced by thermal stimuli is composed of simpler behavioral components that are influenced by at least six distinct genetic loci. The loci that decouple components of the escape behavior reveal a genetic system that allows independent modification of behavioral parameters. Our work sets the foundation for future studies of evolution of innate behaviors at the molecular and neuronal level.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics-Oncology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030.
authors.forename: Rajarshi
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7368-8940
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ghosh
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Genetics, Department of Biological Chemistry, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095.
authors.forename: Joshua S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Bloom
authors.affiliation: Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research, Department of Physics, University of Toronto, Toronto, M5S1A7 Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Aylia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mohammadi
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544.
authors.forename: Molly E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Schumer
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Andolfatto
authors.affiliation: Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research, Department of Physics, University of Toronto, Toronto, M5S1A7 Ontario, Canada Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ryu
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Genetics, Department of Biological Chemistry, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095 Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095 lkruglyak@mednet.ucla.edu.
authors.forename: Leonid
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kruglyak
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001362:Avoidance Learning; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D014644:Genetic Variation; D008297:Male; D040641:Quantitative Trait Loci / Q000235:genetics; D013045:Species Specificity; D013696:Temperature
keywords: innate behavior; natural variation; quantitative genetics; thermosensation