Comparative Analysis of Mating Behavior Characteristics of Mutants at the white Locus of Drosophila melanogaster

V.V. Kostenko

Kazan Federal University, Kazan, 420008 Russia

E-mail: vvkostenko1@gmail.com

Received January 18, 2017

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Abstract

Drosophila melanogaster serves as an excellent model system to study the control of innate behaviors. Behavior is the ability of animals to change their actions under the influence of internal and external factors, a characteristic feature of the animal type of organization. Sexual behavior of Drosophila is organized as a complex physiological and biochemical trait and consists of certain successive stages, which, as a rule, are repeated several times until mating occurs. These stages include the exchange of visual, sound, and chemosensory signals between the partners. Drosophila white (w) gene, discovered in 1910 by Thomas Hunt Morgan, encodes a subunit of an ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter, which loads up pigment granules and deposits the content to pigment cells in the compound eyes. The white gene has housekeeping functions in the central nervous system in addition to its classical role in eye pigmentation. Previously, we have shown the influence of mutant alleles at the white locus on the locomotor activity in Drosophila adults. Therefore, investigating the effect of different white alleles on behavioral traits, including mating behavior, which is also an important component of adaptation, seems to be of interest.

The influence of mutant alleles at the white locus on mating behavior characteristics in Drosophila melanogaster imagoes has been studied. Mating activity of males, mating receptivity of females, duration and latency of copulation as traits of mating behavior have been examined. The results of the present study and the analysis of published data have demonstrated that different alleles of white locus, in combination with genetic factors, substantially influence the mating behavior of D. melanogaster. It has been shown that mutant alleles at the white locus play a significant role in controlling the mating behavior of females. Furthermore, it has been found that intensively pigmented individuals are characterized by lower latency of copulation and, as a result, longer mating.

Keywords: white locus, pigment mutations, mating behavior, latency of copulation, duration of copulation, Drosophila melanogaster

Figure Captions

Fig. 1. Mating behavior characteristics of females and males of Canton-S and Oregon lines (wild type): mating activity of males (MA), mating receptivity of females (MR), and their temporal characteristics (latency (LC) and duration (DC) of copulation).

Fig. 2. The mating activity of mutants at the white locus of Drosophila melanogaster males.

Fig. 3. The mating receptivity of mutants at the white locus of Drosophila melanogaster females.

Fig. 4. The mean duration of copulation under the conditions of a surplus of females (MA) and males (MR) mutant at the white locus of Drosophila melanogaster imagoes.

Fig. 5. The mean latency of copulation under the conditions of a surplus of females (MA) and males (MR) mutant at the white locus of Drosophila melanogaster imagoes.

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For citation: Kostenko V.V. Comparative analysis of mating behavior characteristics of mutants at the white locus of Drosophila melanogaster. Uchenye Zapiski Kazanskogo Universiteta. Seriya Estestvennye Nauki, 2017, vol. 159, no. 2, pp. 293–305. (In Russian)


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