| Title: | The Drosophila small GTPase Rac2 is required for normal feeding and mating behaviour |
| Author(s): | Goergen P; Kasagiannis A; Schioth HB; Williams MJ; |
| Address: | "Institute of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK" |
| DOI: | 10.1007/s10519-014-9643-0 |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1573-3297 (Electronic) 0001-8244 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "All multicellular organisms require the ability to regulate bodily processes in order to maintain a stable condition, which necessitates fluctuations in internal metabolics, as well as modifications of outward behaviour. Understanding the genetics behind this modulation is important as a general model for the metabolic modification of behaviour. This study demonstrates that the activity of the small GTPase Rac2 is required in Drosophila for the proper regulation of lipid storage and feeding behaviour, as well as aggression and mating behaviours. Rac2 mutant males and females are susceptible to starvation and contain considerably less lipids than controls. Furthermore, Rac2 mutants also have disrupted feeding behaviour, eating fewer but larger meals than controls. Intriguingly, Rac2 mutant males rarely initiate aggressive behaviour and display significantly increased levels of courtship behaviour towards other males and mated females. From these results we conclude that Rac2 has a central role in regulating the Drosophila homeostatic system" |
| Keywords: | "Aggression/physiology Animals Animals, Genetically Modified Drosophila melanogaster/*physiology Feeding Behavior/*physiology Female GTP Phosphohydrolases/genetics/*metabolism Male Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction Sexual Behavior, Animal/*ph;" |
| Notes: | "MedlineGoergen, Philip Kasagiannis, Anna Schioth, Helgi B Williams, Michael J eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't 2014/02/04 Behav Genet. 2014 Mar; 44(2):155-64. doi: 10.1007/s10519-014-9643-0. Epub 2014 Feb 1" |
