Comparative analysis of the brain transcriptome in a hyper-aggressive fruit fly, Drosophila prolongata

Aggressive behavior is observed in many animals, but its intensity differs between species. In a model animal of genetics, Drosophila melanogaster, genetic basis of aggressive behavior has been studied intensively, including transcriptome analyses to identify genes whose expression level was associa...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Insect biochemistry and molecular biology 2017-03, Vol.82, p.11-20
Main Authors: Kudo, Ayumi, Shigenobu, Shuji, Kadota, Koji, Nozawa, Masafumi, Shibata, Tomoko F., Ishikawa, Yukio, Matsuo, Takashi
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aggression - physiology
Animals
Brain - metabolism
de novo transcriptome analysis
Drosophila - metabolism
Evolution, Molecular
Female
Gene expression levels
Inter-species comparison
Male
Neurotransmitter Agents - genetics
RNA-seq analysis
Sex Factors
Transcriptome
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Summary:Aggressive behavior is observed in many animals, but its intensity differs between species. In a model animal of genetics, Drosophila melanogaster, genetic basis of aggressive behavior has been studied intensively, including transcriptome analyses to identify genes whose expression level was associated with intra-species variation in aggressiveness. However, whether these genes are also involved in the evolution of aggressiveness among different species has not been examined. In this study, we performed de novo transcriptome analysis in the brain of Drosophila prolongata to identify genes associated with the evolution of aggressiveness. Males of D. prolongata were hyper-aggressive compared with closely related species. Comparison of the brain transcriptomes identified 21 differentially expressed genes in males of D. prolongata. They did not overlap with the list of aggression-related genes identified in D. melanogaster, suggesting that genes involved in the evolution of aggressiveness were independent of those associated with the intra-species variation in aggressiveness in Drosophila. Although females of D. prolongata were not aggressive as the males, expression levels of the 21 genes identified in this study were more similar between sexes than between species. [Display omitted] •Males of Drosophila prolongata were hyper-aggressive compared with those of closely related species.•de novo transcriptome analysis was performed in the brain of D. prolongata.•Comparison among the closely related species identified 21 differentially expressed genes in males of D. prolongata.•These genes were not found among aggression-related genes identified in D. melanogaster.
ISSN:0965-1748
1879-0240
DOI:10.1016/j.ibmb.2017.01.006