Abstract
Under a sociogenomic context, the molecular mechanisms underlying gene-behavior associations are of particular interest. The Drosophila foraging (for) gene has been demonstrated to have a causal role in insect behavioral plasticity. Previous studies of for have revealed many facets of for function, including roles in foraging, energy metabolism, learning and memory, circadian rhythm, and stress resistance. for orthologs have been identified in a variety of insect taxa. However, expression patterns are not consistent across all insects, with for orthologs serving as both positive and negative regulators of foraging behavior. In this study, we cloned two for orthologs, Rffor-α and Rffor-β, from the Eastern subterranean termite, Reticulitermes flavipes. Spatial distribution study showed that the termite brain possesses significantly higher expression levels of Rffor-α and Rffor-β than other types of tissues, which suggests that for may act on the brain to influence an individual's ability to respond to its environment. The temporal expression profile of Rffor across different developmental stages suggests that Rffor functions as a negative regulator of foraging behavior. However, results from environmental impacts, that is, temperature and photoperiod, do not fit under a model of negative correlation between gene expression and locomotion. Further testing is warranted to better understand the interaction between Rffor expression and the environment.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 168-177 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| Journal | Journal of Experimental Zoology Part B: Molecular and Developmental Evolution |
| Volume | 334 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - May 1 2020 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The authors thank anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments to improve our manuscript. This study was supported by a Commercialization fund from the Kentucky Science and Technology Corporation (COMMFUND‐1161‐RFP‐008), a Hatch fund from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (Accession number: 1004654; Project Number: KY008071), and a start‐up fund to X. Z. The information reported in this paper is part of a project of the Kentucky Agricultural Experiment Station and is published with the approval of the Director. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.
Funding Information:
The authors thank anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments to improve our manuscript. This study was supported by a Commercialization fund from the Kentucky Science and Technology Corporation (COMMFUND-1161-RFP-008), a Hatch fund from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (Accession number: 1004654; Project Number: KY008071), and a start-up fund to X. Z. The information reported in this paper is part of a project of the Kentucky Agricultural Experiment Station and is published with the approval of the Director. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Keywords
- PKG
- Reticulitermes flavipes
- for gene
- foraging behavior
- termite
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
- Molecular Medicine
- Animal Science and Zoology
- Genetics
- Developmental Biology