Oviposition behavior in Drosophila melanogaster: genetic and behavioral decoupling between oviposition acceptance and preference for natural fruits

FANARA, JJ; BETTI, M; GANDINI, L; HASSON, E

JOURNAL OF EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY

WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2023

1010-061X

In phytophagous insects, oviposition behavior isan important component of habitat selection and given the multiplicity ofgenetic and environmental factors affecting its expression, is defined as acomplex character resulting from the sum of interdependent traits. Here we study two components of egg-laying behavior: oviposition acceptance (OA) and ovipositionpreference (OP) in Drosophila melanogasterusing three natural fruits as resources (grape, tomato, and orange) by means ofno-choice and two-choice experiments, respectively. This experimental design allowedus to show that the results obtained in two-choice assays (OP) cannot beaccounted for by those resulting from no-choice assays (OA). Since the genomesof all lines used are completely sequenced, we perform a Genome WideAssociation Study to identify and characterize the genetic underpinnings ofthese oviposition behavior traits. The analyses revealed differentcandidate genes affecting natural genetic variation of both OA and OP traits. Moreover, our results suggest behavioral and genetic decouplingbetween OA and OP and thategg-laying behavior is plastic and context dependent. Such independence in the geneticarchitectures of OA and OP variation may influence different aspects ofoviposition behavior, including plasticity, canalization, host shift,maintenance of genetic variability, which contributes to the adoption ofadaptive strategies during habitat selection