Novel genetic approaches to behavior in Drosophila

Abstract

The study of behavior requires manipulation of the controlling neural circuits. The fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, is an ideal model for studying behavior because of its relatively small brain and the numerous sophisticated genetic tools that have been developed for this animal. Relatively recent technical advances allow the manipulation of a small subset of neurons with temporal resolution in flies while they are subject to behavior assays. This review briefly describes the most important genetic techniques, reagents, and approaches that are available to study and manipulate the neural circuits involved in Drosophila behavior. We also describe some examples of these genetic tools in the study of the olfactory receptor system.

Keywords:

• Behavior
• Drosophila
• molecular tools
• neuronal circuits
• binary expression systems
• Gal4-UAS
• LexA-LexAop
• QF-QUAS

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (SAF2013–48759-P), the Gobierno del Principado de Asturias (GRUPIN14–012), and FEDER Funds.