Mutations in the larval foraging gene affect adult locomotory behavior after feeding in Drosophila melanogaster

Abstract

Previous studies have shown a correlation between the locomotory component of larval and adult foraging behavior in the fruit fly. Here we show that this relationship is far more than mere correlation. It can be attributable to different alleles at the same genetic locus of the behavioral gene foraging (for). The for gene offers us the unique opportunity to study the genetic basis and evolutionary significance of a naturally occurring behavioral polymorphism. Until now, only the effect of for on Drosophila melanogaster larval behavior was studied. Larvae with the rover allele (forR) move significantly more while eating during a set time period than those homozygous for the sitter alleles (fors). Here, we show that rover and sitter larval strains derived from nature differ in the distance adults walk after feeding per unit time and that this variation results from different alleles at the foraging locus, the very gene originally defined on the basis of larval behavior. We hypothesize that for may be involved in the way flies evaluate a food resource.