Flies also suffer from 'neighbors'

We all know that people can be influenced by peer-to-peer friends. But two new studies published in the September 11 issue of Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, reveal that fruit flies have the same expression.

The researchers found that the Group's chalk affects each individual fly in many ways, including changes in gene activity and mating behavior. All are indirectly arranged through chemical communication.

Joel Levine of the University of Toronto Mississauga said: 'Many people mistakenly believe that insect communication has been programmed. But we have observed that communication can be influenced by relationships in insects such as fruit flies while fruit flies are often considered to be non-social species. We have seen rapid personal changes, just within one immediately after joining the group. The degree of spontaneity or flexibility is quite complex because it appears at various levels related to neural and neural tissue, changes in gene expression and physiological function, as well as changes in behavior, behavior. All have internal connections. '

The relationship between an individual and its environment, whether it is another social or environmental environment, reveals a profound mystery often lacking in experiments that focus on one element or the other. In the first study, the researchers revealed that specialized flies' oenocyte cells (which produce chemical signals called pheromones) act on internal biological clocks. However, the 'ticking sound' of that clock changes depending on the social environment in which the fly participates. Males in a mixed herd (swarms of other flies that are not genetically homogeneous) will produce chemical signals that are different from live males in a genetically homogeneous group.

These signals have a significant effect on behavior : flies in genetically more socially integrated groups are more likely to mate than those in the same homogeneous group.

The chalk of the group affects individual flies in many ways, including changes in gene activity and mating behavior.All are indirectly arranged through chemical communication.(Photo: iStockphoto / Vinicius Ramalho Tupinamba)

In order to better understand the relationship between chemical communication in flies and their natural environment and environment, researchers have conducted a second study to understand the composition. Study of pheromones that the flies in the mixing group secrete to compare with pheromones in the homogeneous group. The experiments were conducted in fruit flies under constant dark conditions and in normal light-dark cycles.

Experimental results have shown an important impact of both the social environment and the natural environment for fruit flies. Besides, they also discovered strong interaction between the genetic background of flies and their social environment.

Levine said: 'A male's reaction to other animals is like it depends on the neighbors around it. This reaction is quite special because it affects some chemicals released by the fly but not from others. '

The results show that chemical communication is like an unstable characteristic, strongly dependent on the influence of the same flies.

Levine stressed that the study's findings also challenge the traditional view of the relationship between behavior and hidden mechanisms that control that behavior.

He said: 'The most important thing is that a member of a social group used the genetic pattern as a predictor of chemical expression. At a general level, the surprise comes from the ability to perceive chemical functions that are altered by behavior, Behavior is not only a product of molecular mechanisms but also a component of the that mechanism '.

Refer:

1. Joshua J. Krupp, Clement Kent, Jean-Christophe Billeter, Reza Azanchi, Anthony K.-C. So, Julia A. Schonfeld, Benjamin P. Smith, Christophe Lucas, and Joel D. Levine. Social Experience Modifies Pheromone Expression and Mating Behavior in Male Drosophila melanogaster. Current Biology, 2008; DOI: 10.1016 / j.cub.2008.07.089
2. Clement Kent, Reza Azanchi, Ben Smith, Amanda Formosa, and Joel D. Levine.Social Context Influences Chemical Communication in D. melanogaster Males.Current Biology, 2008;DOI: 10.1016 / j.cub.2008.07.088