Abstract
Aggression is a complex social behavior that is widespread in nature. To date, only a limited number of genes that affect aggression have been identified, in large part because the complexity of the phenotype makes screening difficult and time-consuming regardless of the species that is studied. We discovered that aggressive group-housed Drosophila melanogaster males inflict damage on each other's wings, and show that wing damage negatively affects their ability to fly and mate. Using this wing-damage phenotype, we screened males from ∼1400 chemically mutagenized strains and found ∼40 mutant strains with substantial wing damage. Five of these mutants also had increased aggressive behavior. To identify the causal mutation in one of our top aggressive strains, we used whole-genome sequencing and genomic duplication rescue strategies. We identified a novel mutation in the voltage-gated potassium channel Shaker (Sh) and show that a nearby previously identified Sh mutation also results in increased aggression. This simple screen can be used to dissect the molecular mechanisms underlying aggression.
Highlights
AGGRESSIVE behavior is pervasive throughout the animal kingdom
In a range of animal species, aggressive encounters can lead to physical damage usually caused by biting, scratching, or clawing between fighting animals
Our work shows that males from strains with high levels of aggression develop damage to their wings when they are group-housed and that wing damage increases over time
Summary
AGGRESSIVE behavior is pervasive throughout the animal kingdom. While beneficial to help animals compete for limited resources such as food and mates, aggressive encounters can lead to physical damage and in some instances even death (Watts et al 2006; Umbers et al 2012; Georgiev et al 2013). Using whole-genome sequencing and duplication mapping strategies, we identified the causal variant in one of the top aggressive lines This variant alters an evolutionarily conserved residue in the voltage-gated potassium channel, Shaker, suggesting that regulation of neuronal activity can profoundly affect a complex behavior such as aggression. Together, these results show that aggression-induced wing damage can be used to successfully screen for novel components involved in the regulation of aggressive behavior in Drosophila
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