Love Thy Neighbour? Social and Sexual Accommodation in Fruitfies
Lead Research Organisation:
University of East Anglia
Department Name: Biological Sciences
Abstract
Individuals of many species adjust to their environment to increase their potential competitiveness. A familiar example is 'speech accommodation', where individuals, often unintentionally, adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around them. In fruitflies, males show precise responses to their social and sexual environment. Following detection of conspecific rivals, males transfer more ejaculate proteins to females and sire more offspring. Males detect rivals using multiple, redundant sensory inputs. The first aim is to test the idea that this system is robust, immune to mis-firing and confers significant benefits.
Our recent analysis of gene expression in males exposed to rivals reveals a signature of redundancy, with similar sensory inputs following different pathways to result in the same output. The second aim is to test directly for such genomic redundancy, by analyzing the gene expression patterns of responding males that lack sensory inputs.
The final aim is to test whether the same rules apply to detection in interactions involving males of closely related species. 'Mistakes' in identification are apparently not related to relatedness or the potential to hybridise.
The proposed project is at the forefront of identifying recognition mechanisms and is relevant to insect control, by using our knowledge to manipulate reproductive biology via gene silencing.
Our recent analysis of gene expression in males exposed to rivals reveals a signature of redundancy, with similar sensory inputs following different pathways to result in the same output. The second aim is to test directly for such genomic redundancy, by analyzing the gene expression patterns of responding males that lack sensory inputs.
The final aim is to test whether the same rules apply to detection in interactions involving males of closely related species. 'Mistakes' in identification are apparently not related to relatedness or the potential to hybridise.
The proposed project is at the forefront of identifying recognition mechanisms and is relevant to insect control, by using our knowledge to manipulate reproductive biology via gene silencing.
People |
ORCID iD |
| Tracey Chapman (Primary Supervisor) | |
| Alice Dore (Student) |
Publications
Dore AA
(2018)
The role of complex cues in social and reproductive plasticity.
in Behavioral ecology and sociobiology
Studentship Projects
| Project Reference | Relationship | Related To | Start | End | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BB/M011216/1 | 01/10/2015 | 31/03/2024 | |||
| 1772360 | Studentship | BB/M011216/1 | 01/10/2016 | 30/09/2020 | Alice Dore |
| Description | The reproductive behaviour of male fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) evolves in response to the social environment. Males evolved under higher levels of male-male competition express longer overall mating duration. These males also show novel plastic responses to rival males, whereby courtship intensity is reduced and thus latency to mate is extended. This shows that both fixed behavioural differences and novel augmentations to the repertoire of plastic behaviours can rapidly evolve in response to the social environment. Male fruit flies are known to mate for significantly longer when they've been exposed to rival males before encountering a female. Previous work has shown that this response can be elicited by redundant sensory cues. My analysis of RNA-seq data shows that alternative pathways of gene expression may underlie the production of equivalent phenotypes by different combinations of cues. This shows how robust responses can be produced in response to variable environments, and sheds light on the mechanisms underlying phenotypic plasticity. Prior research has shown that the developmental environment can affect the reproductive morphology of male fruit flies. Males that develop as larvae in environments with adult males present have significantly larger accessory glands as adults. My research shows that accessory gland size may remain plastic after emergence from the pupae. Males that were stored in same-sex groups after eclosion developed larger accessory glands than those that were stored singly. Furthermore, preliminary results suggest that wing size, which was previously thought to be fixed at eclosion, may also remain plastic during the hours immediately after emergence. |
| Exploitation Route | More could be understood about the evolution of male reproductive behaviours in response to the social environment by testing these responses in a greater range of conditions. Studying the behaviour of females from these experimental evolution lines would also inform understanding of the co-evolution of male and female behaviours and sexual conflict in these environments. The preliminary findings on the possible alternative transcriptomic pathways to equivalent behavioural responses demonstrate the value of conducting further research to produce a more comprehensive and fully controlled study on this topic. |
| Sectors | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Environment |
| Description | Collaborations with Oxford |
| Organisation | University of Oxford |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | As part of my research project we are collaborating with researchers in the department of Zoology at Oxford University to analyse the mating behaviour and seminal fluid protein transfer of D. melanogaster experimentally evolved under fixed sex ratio. I am currently analysing behavioural and fecundity data generated by the Oxford group, and we are planning for Tracey Chapman and I to assist with the dissection of samples for proteomic analysis. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Our partners have generated data on the reproductive phenotype of experimentally evolved D. melanogaster, and will perform proteomic analysis upon the completion of the generation and dissection of samples. |
| Impact | As the collaboration remains in its early stages the outputs thus far have been the generation of the phenotypic dataset. The generation of further data and provisionally a co-authored paper are expected to follow. |
| Start Year | 2019 |