Mass behavioral assay to measure odor attractiveness and plasticity in Drosophila melanogaster

ALEMÁN, M; LOCATELLI, F; PÍREZ, N.

Buenos Aires

Congreso; XXXV REUNIÓN ANUAL SAN 2020 VIRTUAL; 2020

Sociedad Argentina de Investigación en Neurociencias

Insects rely on olfaction to find food and mate. The olfactory cues that drive different behaviors are expected to have been determined by evolution and thus the neurobiological mechanisms involved in detecting and encoding relevant odors are assumed to depend on hardwired circuits. However, it is well established, that learning and memory have a large impact in tuning olfactory guided behaviors. The fly Drosophila melanogaster is one of the models in which the link between olfactory circuits and behavior is best understood. In order to unveil the neural bases of odor guided behavior, big efforts are made to identify attractive, aversive and neutral odors. Here we started a project aimed at establishing a simple method that would allow us to measure innate and acquired odor attractiveness. The method is based on a differential trap assay. Fifty flies are enclosed in a chamber, which includes two vials with odorant solutions. Once the flies enter the vials, presumably attracted by the odors, they can´t come out. The attractiveness is determined based on the ratio between the numbers of flies trapped in each vial. So far, we found the experimental conditions in which propionic acid shows strong attractiveness, but 2-heptanone and ethyl butyrate do not. Interestingly, these results were obtained in flies that were reared in vials scented with propionic acid. Future experiments will address if the preferences change when flies are reared in a medium with one of the neutral odors.