Learning about quantitative genetics from Marla Sokolowski

Abstract

Marla Sokolowski is a true pioneer in behavioral genetics, having made the first molecular delineation of a naturally occurring behavioral polymorphism in her work on the foraging locus in Drosophila melanogaster. The gene was subsequently found to be responsible for behavioral variants and types in many other species, both invertebrate and mammal (human). The path to get there is a paradigmatic example of how to use the power of genetic analysis, including some rather esoteric techniques, to zero in on a gene and delineate its molecular identity and its pleiotropic roles.

Keywords:

• Behavior genetics
• Drosophila
• natural variants
• foraging
• cGMP-dependent-protein kinase

Acknowledgements

I thank Joel Levine and Steve de Belle for comments on the manuscript. Any factual errors are the responsibility of the author.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).