Abstract
BackgroundAnimal aggressiveness is controlled by genetic and environmental factors. Among environmental factors, social experience plays an important role in modulating aggression in vertebrates and invertebrates. In Drosophila, pheromonal activation of olfactory neurons contributes to social suppression of aggression. While it was reported that impairment in vision decreases the level of aggression in Drosophila, it remains unknown if visual perception also contributes to the modulation of aggression by social experience.ResultsIn this study, we investigate the role of visual perception in the control of aggression in Drosophila. We took several genetic approaches to examine the effects of blocking visual circuit activity on fly aggressive behaviors. In wild type, group housing greatly suppresses aggressiveness. Loss of vision by mutating the ninaB gene does not affect social suppression of fly aggression. Similar suppression of aggressiveness by group housing is observed in fly mutants carrying a mutation in the eya gene leading to complete loss of eye. Chronic visual loss does not affect the level of aggressiveness of single-housed flies that lack social experience prior to behavioral tests. When visual circuit activity is acutely blocked during behavioral test, however, single-housed flies display higher levels of aggressiveness than that of control flies.ConclusionVisual perception does not play a major role in social suppression of aggression in Drosophila. For single-housed individuals lacking social experience prior to behavioral tests, visual perception decreases the level of aggressiveness.
Highlights
Animal aggressiveness is controlled by genetic and environmental factors
To determine if visual perception contributes to social suppression of aggressiveness, we investigated if the blockade of visual circuit activity affects social suppression of aggression
Loss of vision in ninaB mutants does not prevent social suppression of aggression To determine if visual perception contributes to social suppression of fly aggression, we examined if the modulation of aggressiveness by social experience is affected in blind ninaB mutant flies. ninaB encodes a β,β-carotene15,15′-dioxygenase that mediates the generation of visual chromophores [11]
Summary
Animal aggressiveness is controlled by genetic and environmental factors. Social experience plays an important role in modulating aggression in vertebrates and invertebrates. While it was reported that impairment in vision decreases the level of aggression in Drosophila, it remains unknown if visual perception contributes to the modulation of aggression by social experience. The level of aggressiveness is influenced by both genetic and environmental factors [1]. Accumulated evidence supports that social experience is one of the most important environmental factors that affect aggression in humans [2], rats [3,4,5] and Drosophila [6]. We examined the effects of visual impairment on aggressiveness of single-housed flies that lack social experience prior to behavioral tests
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