Name: a new approach that eliminates handling for studying aggression and the "loser" effect in drosophila melanogaster
Uploaded: 2015-12-30T15:00:00
Description: Watch this Scientific Journal Video about A New Approach that Eliminates Handling for Studying Aggression and the "Loser" Effect in Drosophila melanogaster at JoVE.com

This research was supported by grants from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (GM099883 and GM074675) to E.A.K. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. We thank the people from our machine shop at Harvard Medical School for the design of the behavioral apparatus (contact: <a href="http://mikesmachine.com">http://mikesmachine.com</a>).
Author contributions: S.T., B.C. designed the behavioral apparatus. S.T. designed and optimized the experimental protocol. S.T. and B.C. performed and analyzed the experiments. S.T., E.A.K. and B.C. wrote the paper.

Note: The following is a step-by-step description of the experimental protocol we use to allow reliable triggering of aggression between pairs of male fruit flies (D. melanogaster). This procedure induces the formation of a &#34;loser&#34; effect. Using this protocol, a short-term &#34;winner&#34; effect also has been recently reported 5,6. Figure 1 shows the timeline of the behavioral experiments.
<img alt="Figure 1" s...

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The modern era of using Drosophila with its powerful genetic methods as a model organism for the study of aggression began about a dozen years ago with the introduction of novel experimental arenas in which reliable fighting behavior could be obtained with single pairs of flies 1,7,8,17,19. These arenas included desired resources (a food cup, potential mates) and a space for loser flies to retreat into. When results obtained with these arenas were added to previous knowledge about fruit fly fight beha...

Aggression in animal systems is strongly associated with the acquisition and holding of resources such as food, territory and mates. Given the important role this plays in the fitness of individuals, it is not surprising that aggression has evolved across the animal kingdom. As an adaptive trait that directly benefits individuals, a strong learning and memory component is associated with aggression. In competition for social rank, previous fighting experience influences the outcome of later contests. In general, prior losing experience increases, and winning experience decreases, the probability of losing later contests (called &#34;loser&#34; and &#34;winner&#34; effects). &#34;Loser&#34; effects have been observed in a wide range of species, and some reports suggest that these can last for several days while &#34;winner&#34; effects usually are of shorter duration 2,10,11.
The first report of aggressive behavior in fruit flies (D. ampelophila) was by Sturtevant in 1915 in a paper concerned with sex recognition and sex selection 12. Half a century later, more complete examinations of male fruit fly aggression were made, that described most of the behavioral patterns observed during fruit fly fights. These experiments were mostly carried out in small groups of male and female flies observed over hours 13-15. Recently, with the addition of powerful genetic tools, dyadic single sex fight setups and shorter times of observation, D. melanogaster has emerged as an important model system for the study of the biology of aggression 1,16. Analysis of fights between same sex pairs of male and female flies demonstrated that aggression involves stereotypical behavioral patterns that transition from one to the other in a statistically reliable manner 1,17. Some of the behavioral patterns observed are sex-specific while others are observed in fights in both sexes. Male fights go to higher intensity levels than female fights and result in the formation of dominance relationships with clear &#34;winners&#34; and &#34;losers&#34;. At present, many laboratories have started investigating the biochemical 18, neural 7,19-21, and genetic 22 underpinnings of aggression. Unfortunately, a meta-analysis of studies to gain insight into fight dynamics and the formation and maintenance of dominance relationships is problematic due to the use of a multiplicity of experimental procedures in different laboratories. Essentially all of the techniques described in the literature involve handling and manipulation of flies to introduce them into arenas 19,23,24 and during the behavioral experiment 3,4 to transfer flies out of arenas. Gentle aspiration is the most common way to manipulate flies 3,4,23-25, but cold or CO2 anesthesia are also used 9,26, even though previous studies already have reported that these procedures have deleterious effects on fly behavior 27,28. A period of at least 24 hr is recommended after the use of any anesthetics to minimize their effects on behavior 29,30.
Flies learn from previous fighting experience and modify their behavioral pattern usage in new situations, suggesting that learning and memory accompany and are consequences of agonistic encounters. In that sense, fly fights resemble to operant conditioning learning situations in which flies learn that a strategy has worked and then use it more and more often during subsequent encounters. Flies change their fighting strategies after dominance relationships have been established during fights, with winners lunging more and more and losers less and less. After a period of separation, previous losers show much more submissive behavior and are highly likely to lose 2nd fights when paired with na&#239;ve flies or previous winners 3,4. However, the absence of an experimental procedure that excludes handling of flies has made detailed studies of &#34;loser&#34; effects difficult. In a recent study, we compared two experimental procedures routinely used in laboratories (aspiration and cold-anesthesia) to introduce flies into behavioral chambers to the new procedure that eliminates handling. The results showed that cold-anesthesia had far greater negative effects on aggression than aspiration, but even aspiration reduced the level of aggressiveness by flies. Aspiration did, however, cause highly significant effects on the learning and memory that accompany aggression. Following identical protocol with two experimental procedures (aspiration and no handling), a robust &#34;loser&#34; effect was only observed when the handling of flies was eliminated from the experimental procedure 5,6.
Ideally, studies of Drosophila aggression in laboratories should include environmental situations that flies normally encounter in the wild (competition for resources, territory to defend and space to escape). In addition, experimental conditions should be optimized to reliably induce, observe and interpret the behavior under examination (try to minimize animal handling, limit the use of CO2 as anesthetic, and standardize the experimental procedures). In attempting to address most or all of these issues, we designed a new behavioral apparatus that eliminates handling of flies before, during and after introducing them to behavioral arenas. With these apparatus, flies use their innate negative geotaxis to be moved and transferred into and out of the fight chambers. By eliminating handling of flies, the protocol aims to: (a) reduce the behavioral variability among individuals; (b) decrease the time necessary for flies to interact and generate clear dominance relationships (males); and (c) reliably induce strong enough behavioral changes to allow formation of &#34;loser&#34; effects.
This protocol describes a new experimental apparatus and a step by step procedure to analyze aggression and to allow the formation of a strong &#34;loser&#34; effect in D. melanogaster. We expect that this behavioral apparatus can be easily adapted for the study of other social behaviors exhibited by fruit flies.

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a new approach that eliminates handling for studying aggression and the "loser" effect in drosophila melanogaster

Aggressive behavior in Drosophila melanogaster is composed of the sequential expression of stereotypical behavioral patterns (for analysis see 1). This complex behavior is influenced by genetic, hormonal and environmental factors. As in many organisms, previous fighting experience influences the fighting strategy of flies and the outcome of later contests: losing a fight increases the probability of losing later contests, revealing &#34;loser&#34; effects that likely involve learning and memory 2-4. The learning and memory that accompanies expression of complex social behaviors like aggression, is sensitive to pre-test handling of animals 5,6. Many experimental procedures are used in different laboratories to study aggression 7-9, however, no routinely used protocol that excludes handling of flies is currently available. Here, we report a new behavioral apparatus that eliminates handling of flies, using instead their innate negative geotactic responses to move animals into or out of fighting chambers. In this protocol, small circular fight arenas containing a food cup are divided into two equal halves by a removable plastic slider prior to introduction of flies. Flies enter chambers from their home isolation vials via sliding chamber doors and geotaxis. Upon removal of plastic sliders, flies are free to interact. After specified time periods, flies are separated again by sliders for subsequent experimentation. All of this is done easily without handling of individual flies. This apparatus offers a novel approach to study aggression and the associated learning and memory, including the formation of &#34;loser&#34; effects in fly fights. In addition, this new general-purpose behavioral apparatus can be employed to study other social behaviors of flies and should, in general, be of interest for investigating experience-related changes in fundamental behavioral processes.

This section presents the design of the behavioral chamber and the analysis of a typical set of behavioral experiments following the protocol described above measuring aggression and the formation of a &#34;loser&#34; effect. Also illustrated are samples of other behaviors that can be measured using this apparatus.
Figure 6 shows a schematic representation of the new apparatus. The apparatus is composed of three cylindrical wells (dimension: 22.86 mm diameter, 17 mm height) th...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about A New Approach that Eliminates Handling for Studying Aggression and the "Loser" Effect in Drosophila melanogaster at JoVE.com

A New Approach that Eliminates Handling for Studying Aggression and the &quot;Loser&quot; Effect in Drosophila melanogaster

During fruit fly fights, the behavioral patterns observed, fight dynamics, and associated learning and memory are influenced by experimental conditions. The protocol presented here describes a novel procedure that entirely eliminates handling of flies during experiments. This improves fight dynamics and allows formation of strong &#34;loser&#34; effects.

A New Approach that Eliminates Handling for Studying Aggression and the "Loser" Effect in Drosophila melanogaster

Aggressive behavior in Drosophila melanogaster is composed of the sequential expression of stereotypical behavioral patterns (for analysis see 1). This ...

a-new-approach-that-eliminates-handling-for-studying-aggression-loser

Research

JoVE Journal

Neuroscience

Single Sensillum Recordings in the Insects Drosophila melanogaster and Anopheles gambiae

The sense of smell is essential for insects to find foods, mates, predators, and oviposition sites3. Insect olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs) are enclosed in sensory hairs called sensilla, which cover the surface of olfactory organs. The surface of each sensillum is covered with tiny pores, through which odorants pass and dissolve in a fluid called sensillum lymph, which bathes the sensory dendrites of the OSNs housed in a given sensillum. The OSN dendrites express odorant receptor (OR) proteins, which in insects function as odor-gated ion channels4, 5. The interaction of odorants with ORs either increases or decreases the basal firing rate of the OSN. This neuronal activity in the form of action potentials embodies the first representation of the quality, intensity, and temporal characteristics of the odorant6, 7.
Given the easy access to these sensory hairs, it is possible to perform extracellular recordings from single OSNs by introducing a recording electrode into the sensillum lymph, while the reference electrode is placed in the lymph of the eye or body of the insect. In Drosophila, sensilla house between one and four OSNs, but each OSN typically displays a characteristic spike amplitude. Spike sorting techniques make it possible to assign spiking responses to individual OSNs. This single sensillum recording (SSR) technique monitors the difference in potential between the sensillum lymph and the reference electrode as electrical spikes that are generated by the receptor activity on OSNs1, 2, 8. Changes in the number of spikes in response to the odorant represent the cellular basis of odor coding in insects. Here, we describe the preparation method currently used in our lab to perform SSR on Drosophila melanogaster and Anopheles gambiae, and show representative traces induced by the odorants in a sensillum-specific manner.

Single Sensillum Recordings in the Insects Drosophila melanogaster and Anopheles gambiae

Electrophysiological responses of olfactory sensory neurons to odorants can be measured in insects using single sensillum recordings. In this video article we will demonstrate how to perform single sensillum recordings in the antennae of the vinegar fly (Drosophila melanogaster) and the maxillary palps of the malaria mosquito (Anopheles gambiae).

The sense of smell is essential for insects to find foods, mates, predators, and oviposition sites3. Insect olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs) are enclosed ...

Paired Nanoinjection and Electrophysiology Assay to Screen for Bioactivity of Compounds using the Drosophila melanogaster Giant Fiber System

Screening compounds for in vivo activity can be used as a first step to identify candidates that may be developed into pharmacological agents1,2. We developed a novel nanoinjection/electrophysiology assay that allows the detection of bioactive modulatory effects of compounds on the function of a neuronal circuit that mediates the escape response in Drosophila melanogaster3,4. Our in vivo assay, which uses the Drosophila Giant Fiber System (GFS, Figure 1) allows screening of different types of compounds, such as small molecules or peptides, and requires only minimal quantities to elicit an effect. In addition, the Drosophila GFS offers a large variety of potential molecular targets on neurons or muscles. The Giant Fibers (GFs) synapse electrically (Gap Junctions) as well as chemically (cholinergic) onto a Peripheral Synapsing Interneuron (PSI) and the Tergo Trochanteral Muscle neuron (TTMn)5. The PSI to DLMn (Dorsal Longitudinal Muscle neuron) connection is dependent on D&alpha;7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs)6. Finally, the neuromuscular junctions (NMJ) of the TTMn and the DLMn with the jump (TTM) and flight muscles (DLM) are glutamatergic7-12. Here, we demonstrate how to inject nanoliter quantities of a compound, while obtaining electrophysiological intracellular recordings from the Giant Fiber System13 and how to monitor the effects of the compound on the function of this circuit. We show specificity of the assay with methyllycaconitine citrate (MLA), a nAChR antagonist, which disrupts the PSI to DLMn connection but not the GF to TTMn connection or the function of the NMJ at the jump or flight muscles.
Before beginning this video it is critical that you carefully watch and become familiar with the JoVE video titled "Electrophysiological Recordings from the Giant Fiber Pathway of D. melanogaster " from Augustin et al7, as the video presented here is intended as an expansion to this existing technique. Here we use the electrophysiological recordings method and focus in detail only on the addition of the paired nanoinjections and monitoring technique.

Paired Nanoinjection and Electrophysiology Assay to Screen for Bioactivity of Compounds using the Drosophila melanogaster Giant Fiber System

A rapid in vivo assay to test for neuromodulatory compounds using the Giant Fiber System (GFS) of Drosophila melanogaster is described. Nanoinjections in the head of the animal along with electrophysiological recordings of the GFS can reveal bioactivity of compounds on neurons or muscles.

Screening compounds for in vivo activity can be used as a first step to identify candidates that may be developed into pharmacological agents1,2. We ...

Visualization of Proprioceptors in Drosophila Larvae and Pupae

Proprioception is the ability to sense the motion, or position, of body parts by responding to stimuli arising within the body. In fruitflies and other insects proprioception is provided by specialized sensory organs termed chordotonal organs (ChOs) 2. Like many other organs in Drosophila, ChOs develop twice during the life cycle of the fly. First, the larval ChOs develop during embryogenesis. Then, the adult ChOs start to develop in the larval imaginal discs and continue to differentiate during metamorphosis.
The development of larval ChOs during embryogenesis has been studied extensively 10,11,13,15,16. The centerpiece of each ChO is a sensory unit composed of a neuron and a scolopale cell. The sensory unit is stretched between two types of accessory cells that attach to the cuticle via specialized epidermal attachment cells 1,9,14. When a fly larva moves, the relative displacement of the epidermal attachment cells leads to stretching of the sensory unit and consequent opening of specific transient receptor potential vanilloid (TRPV) channels at the outer segment of the dendrite 8,12. The elicited signal is then transferred to the locomotor central pattern generator circuit in the central nervous system.
Multiple ChOs have been described in the adult fly 7. These are located near the joints of the adult fly appendages (legs, wings and halters) and in the thorax and abdomen. In addition, several hundreds of ChOs collectively form the Johnston's organ in the adult antenna that transduce acoustic to mechanical energy 3,5,17,4.
In contrast to the extensive knowledge about the development of ChOs in embryonic stages, very little is known about the morphology of these organs during larval stages. Moreover, with the exception of femoral ChOs 18 and Johnston's organ, our knowledge about the development and structure of ChOs in the adult fly is very fragmentary.
Here we describe a method for staining and visualizing ChOs in third instar larvae and pupae. This method can be applied together with genetic tools to better characterize the morphology and understand the development of the various ChOs in the fly.

Visualization of Proprioceptors in Drosophila Larvae and Pupae

A method to immunostain and visualize chordotonal organs in larvae and pupae of Drosophila melanogaster is described.

Proprioception is the ability to sense the motion, or position, of body parts by responding to stimuli arising within the body. In fruitflies and other ...

Determination of the Spontaneous Locomotor Activity in Drosophila melanogaster

Drosophila melanogaster has been used as an excellent model organism to study environmental and genetic manipulations that affect behavior. One such behavior is spontaneous locomotor activity. Here we describe our protocol that utilizes Drosophila population monitors and a tracking system that allows continuous monitoring of the spontaneous locomotor activity of flies for several days at a time. This method is simple, reliable, and objective and can be used to examine the effects of aging, sex, changes in caloric content of food, addition of drugs, or genetic manipulations that mimic human diseases.

Determination of the Spontaneous Locomotor Activity in Drosophila melanogaster

Drosophila melanogaster are useful in studying genetic or environmental manipulations that affect behaviors such as spontaneous locomotor activity.&#160; Here we describe a protocol that utilizes monitors with infrared beams and data analysis software to quantify spontaneous locomotor activity.&#160;

Drosophila melanogaster has been used as an excellent model organism to study environmental and genetic manipulations that affect behavior. One such ...

Straightforward Assay for Quantification of Social Avoidance in Drosophila melanogaster

Drosophila melanogaster is an emerging model to study different aspects of social interactions. For example, flies avoid areas previously occupied by stressed conspecifics due to an odorant released during stress known as the Drosophila stress odorant (dSO). Through the use of the T-maze apparatus, one can quantify the avoidance of the dSO by responder flies in a very affordable and robust assay. Conditions necessary to obtain a strong performance are presented here. A stressful experience is necessary for the flies to emit dSO, as well as enough emitter flies to cause a robust avoidance response to the presence of dSO. Genetic background, but not their group size, strongly altered the avoidance of the dSO by the responder flies. Canton-S and Elwood display a higher performance in avoiding the dSO than Oregon and Samarkand strains. This behavioral assay will allow identification of mechanisms underlying this social behavior, and the assessment of the influence of genes and environmental conditions on both emission and avoidance of the dSO. Such an assay can be included in batteries of simple diagnostic tests used to identify social deficiencies of mutants or environmental conditions of interest.

Straightforward Assay for Quantification of Social Avoidance in Drosophila melanogaster

Here, we present a protocol to quantify the avoidance of stressed individuals. This paradigm is powerful yet user-friendly and can be used to assess the influence of genes and environment on one kind of social interaction in Drosophila melanogaster.

Drosophila melanogaster is an emerging model to study different aspects of social interactions. For example, flies avoid areas previously occupied by ...

Conditions Affecting Social Space in Drosophila melanogaster

The social space assay described here can be used to quantify social interactions of Drosophila melanogaster &#8212; or other small insects &#8212; in a straightforward manner. As we previously demonstrated 1, in a two-dimensional chamber, we first force the flies to form a tight group, subsequently allowing them to take their preferred distance from each other. After the flies have settled, we measure the distance to the closest neighbor (or social space), processing a static picture with free online software (ImageJ). The analysis of the distance to the closest neighbor allows researchers to determine the effects of genetic and environmental factors on social interaction, while controlling for potential confounding factors. Diverse factors such as climbing ability, time of day, sex, and number of flies, can modify social spacing of flies. We thus propose a series of experimental controls to mitigate these confounding effects. This assay can be used for at least two purposes. First, researchers can determine how their favorite environmental shift (such as isolation, temperature, stress or toxins) will impact social spacing 1,2. Second, researchers can dissect the genetic and neural underpinnings of this basic form of social behavior 1,3. Specifically, we used it as a diagnostic tool to study the role of orthologous genes thought to be involved in social behavior in other organisms, such as candidate genes for autism in humans 4.

Conditions Affecting Social Space in Drosophila melanogaster

The effect of genes and environment on social space of Drosophila melanogaster can be quantified through a powerful but straightforward analytical paradigm. We show here different factors that can affect this social space, and thus need to be taken into consideration when designing experiments in this paradigm.

The social space assay described here can be used to quantify social interactions of Drosophila melanogaster &#8212; or other small insects &#8212; in a ...

High-resolution Quantification of Odor-guided Behavior in Drosophila melanogaster Using the Flywalk Paradigm

In their natural environment, insects such as the vinegar fly Drosophila melanogaster are bombarded with a huge amount of chemically distinct odorants. To complicate matters even further, the odors detected by the insect nervous system usually are not single compounds but mixtures whose composition and concentration ratios vary. This leads to an almost infinite amount of different olfactory stimuli which have to be evaluated by the nervous system.
To understand which aspects of an odor stimulus determine its evaluation by the fly, it is therefore desirable to efficiently examine odor-guided behavior towards many odorants and odor mixtures. To directly correlate behavior to neuronal activity, behavior should be quantified in a comparable time frame and under identical stimulus conditions as in neurophysiological experiments. However, many currently used olfactory bioassays in Drosophila neuroethology are rather specialized either towards efficiency or towards resolution.
Flywalk, an automated odor delivery and tracking system, bridges the gap between efficiency and resolution. It allows the determination of exactly when an odor packet stimulated a freely walking fly, and to determine the animal&#180;s dynamic behavioral reaction.

High-resolution Quantification of Odor-guided Behavior in Drosophila melanogaster Using the Flywalk Paradigm

The automated tracking system Flywalk is used for high-resolution quantification of odor-guided behavior in Drosophila melanogaster.

In their natural environment, insects such as the vinegar fly Drosophila melanogaster are bombarded with a huge amount of chemically distinct odorants. To ...

A Behavioral Assay for Mechanosensation of MARCM-based Clones in Drosophila melanogaster

Because of the structural and functional homology to the hair cells of the mammalian inner ear, the neurons that innervate the Drosophila external sense organs provide an excellent model system for the study of mechanosensation. This protocol describes a simple touch behavior in fruit flies which can be used to identify mutations that interfere with mechanosensation. The tactile stimulation of a macrochaete bristle on the thorax of flies elicits a grooming reflex from either the first or third leg. Mutations that interfere with mechanotransduction (such as NOMPC), or with other aspects of the reflex arc, can inhibit the grooming response. A traditional screen of adult behaviors would have missed mutants that have essential roles during development. Instead, this protocol combines the touch screen with mosaic analysis with a repressible cell marker (MARCM) to allow for only limited regions of homozygous mutant cells to be generated and marked by the expression of green fluorescent protein (GFP). By testing MARCM clones for abnormal behavioral responses, it is possible to screen a collection of lethal p-element mutations to search for new genes involved in mechanosensation that would have been missed by more traditional methods.

A Behavioral Assay for Mechanosensation of MARCM-based Clones in Drosophila melanogaster

In order to identify novel mutations affecting mechanosensation, we designed an assay that measures the behavioral response to tactile stimulation of fly bristles in mutant clones generated by the MARCM method. The combination of techniques allows for the identification of mechanosensitive mutations that would otherwise be lethal.

Because of the structural and functional homology to the hair cells of the mammalian inner ear, the neurons that innervate the Drosophila external sense ...

Foraging Path-length Protocol for Drosophila melanogaster Larvae

The Drosophila melanogaster larval path-length phenotype is an established measure used to study the genetic and environmental contributions to behavioral variation. The larval path-length assay was developed to measure individual differences in foraging behavior that were later linked to the foraging gene. Larval path-length is an easily scored trait that facilitates the collection of large sample sizes, at minimal cost, for genetic screens. Here we provide a detailed description of the current protocol for the larval path-length assay first used by Sokolowski. The protocol details how to reproducibly handle test animals, perform the behavioral assay and analyze the data. An example of how the assay can be used to measure behavioral plasticity in response to environmental change, by manipulating feeding environment prior to performing the assay, is also provided. Finally, appropriate test design as well as environmental factors that can modify larval path-length such as food quality, developmental age and day effects are discussed.

Foraging Path-length Protocol for Drosophila melanogaster Larvae

We provide a detailed protocol for a Drosophila melanogaster foraging path-length assay. We discuss the preparation and handling of test animals, how to perform the assay and analyze the data.

The Drosophila melanogaster larval path-length phenotype is an established measure used to study the genetic and environmental contributions to behavioral ...

A Simple Way to Measure Alterations in Reward-seeking Behavior Using Drosophila melanogaster

We describe a protocol for measuring ethanol self-administration in fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) as a proxy for changes in reward states. We demonstrate a simple way to tap into the fly reward system, modify experiences related to natural reward, and use voluntary ethanol consumption as a measure for changes in reward states. The approach serves as a relevant tool to study the neurons and genes that play a role in experience-mediated changes of internal state. The protocol is composed of two discrete parts: exposing the flies to rewarding and nonrewarding experiences, and assaying voluntary ethanol consumption as a measure of the motivation to obtain a drug reward. The two parts can be used independently to induce the modulation of experience as an initial step for further downstream assays or as an independent two-choice feeding assay, respectively. The protocol does not require a complicated setup and can therefore be applied in any laboratory with basic fly culture tools.

A Simple Way to Measure Alterations in Reward-seeking Behavior Using Drosophila melanogaster

We describe a protocol for inducing rewarding and nonrewarding experiences in fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) using voluntary ethanol consumption as a measure for changes in reward states.

We describe a protocol for measuring ethanol self-administration in fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) as a proxy for changes in reward states. We ...