Characterizing the Protein Isoforms of (), the PKGI Ortholog in .

The () gene of encodes a cGMP-dependent protein kinase (PKG), which is a major effector of the cGMP signaling pathway involved in the regulation of behaviour and metabolic traits. Despite being well studied at the transcript level, little is known about the gene at the protein level. Here, we provide a detailed characterization of the gene protein (FOR) products and present new tools for their study, including five isoform-specific antibodies and a transgenic strain that carries an HA-labelled allele ().

Transcriptomic effects of the foraging gene shed light on pathways of pleiotropy and plasticity.

Genes are often pleiotropic and plastic in their expression, features which increase and diversify the functionality of the genome. The foraging (for) gene in Drosophila melanogaster is highly pleiotropic and a long-standing model for studying individual differences in behavior and plasticity from ethological, evolutionary, and genetic perspectives. Its pleiotropy is known to be linked to its complex molecular structure; however, the downstream pathways and interactors remain mostly elusive.

How Social Experience and Environment Impacts Behavioural Plasticity in .

An organism's behaviour is influenced by its social environment. Experiences such as social isolation or crowding may have profound short or long-term effects on an individual's behaviour. The composition of the social environment also depends on the genetics and previous experiences of the individuals present, leading to additional potential outcomes from each social interaction.

A cGMP-dependent protein kinase, encoded by the gene, regulates neurotransmission through changes in synaptic structure and function.

A cGMP-dependent protein kinase (PKG) encoded by the () gene regulates both synaptic structure (nerve terminal growth) and function (neurotransmission) through independent mechanisms at the larval neuromuscular junction (nmj). Glial is known to restrict nerve terminal growth, whereas presynaptic inhibits synaptic vesicle (SV) exocytosis during low frequency stimulation. Presynaptic also facilitates SV endocytosis during high frequency stimulation.

The gene plays a vital role at the start of metamorphosis for subsequent adult emergence.

The () gene has been extensively studied in many species for its functions in development, physiology, and behavior. It is common for genes that influence behavior and development to be essential genes, and has been found to be an essential gene in both fruit flies and mammals, with mutants dying before reaching the adult stage. However, the biological process underlying the lethality associated with this gene is not known.

Genes and environments, development and time.

A now substantial body of science implicates a dynamic interplay between genetic and environmental variation in the development of individual differences in behavior and health. Such outcomes are affected by molecular, often epigenetic, processes involving gene-environment (G-E) interplay that can influence gene expression. Early environments with exposures to poverty, chronic adversities, and acutely stressful events have been linked to maladaptive development and compromised health and behavior.

Behavior-related gene regulatory networks: A new level of organization in the brain.

Neuronal networks are the standard heuristic model today for describing brain activity associated with animal behavior. Recent studies have revealed an extensive role for a completely distinct layer of networked activities in the brain-the gene regulatory network (GRN)-that orchestrates expression levels of hundreds to thousands of genes in a behavior-related manner. We examine emerging insights into the relationships between these two types of networks and discuss their interplay in spatial as well as temporal dimensions, across multiple scales of organization.

Biological embedding of experience: A primer on epigenetics.

Biological embedding occurs when life experience alters biological processes to affect later life health and well-being. Although extensive correlative data exist supporting the notion that epigenetic mechanisms such as DNA methylation underlie biological embedding, causal data are lacking. We describe specific epigenetic mechanisms and their potential roles in the biological embedding of experience.

The Gene and Its Behavioral Effects: Pleiotropy and Plasticity.

The () gene is a well-established example of a gene with major effects on behavior and natural variation. This gene is best known for underlying the behavioral strategies of rover and sitter foraging larvae, having been mapped and named for this phenotype. Nevertheless, in the last three decades an extensive array of studies describing 's role as a modifier of behavior in a wide range of phenotypes, in both and other organisms, has emerged.

regulates a nociceptive-like escape behavior through a developmentally plastic sensory circuit.

Painful or threatening experiences trigger escape responses that are guided by nociceptive neuronal circuitry. Although some components of this circuitry are known and conserved across animals, how this circuitry is regulated at the genetic and developmental levels is mostly unknown. To escape noxious stimuli, such as parasitoid wasp attacks, larvae generate a curling and rolling response.

Distinct functions of a cGMP-dependent protein kinase in nerve terminal growth and synaptic vesicle cycling.

Sustained neurotransmission requires the tight coupling of synaptic vesicle (SV) exocytosis and endocytosis. The mechanisms underlying this coupling are poorly understood. We tested the hypothesis that a cGMP-dependent protein kinase (PKG), encoded by the () gene in , is critical for this process using a null mutant, genomic rescues and tissue-specific rescues.

Self-regulation and the gene () in humans.

Foraging is a goal-directed behavior that balances the need to explore the environment for resources with the need to exploit those resources. In , distinct phenotypes have been observed in relation to the gene (), labeled the rover and sitter. Adult rovers explore their environs more extensively than do adult sitters.

A Neuroethics Backbone for the Evolving Canadian Brain Research Strategy.

Building on Canada's strong traditions in neuroscience and ethics, neuroethics provides a backbone for the evolving Canadian Brain Research Strategy (CBRS) that, from the outset, incorporates ethically responsible discoveries in brain science into clinical, societal, educational, and commercial innovation.

Both maternal care received and genotype influence stress-related phenotype in female rats.

Rat dams differ naturally in the level of maternal care they provide to their offspring within the same litter. We explored possible mechanisms of differential maternal care focused on genetic variation. We examined single nucleotide polymorphisms in the glucocorticoid receptor, FK506-binding protein, and serotonin transporter genes in two separate cohorts, and the relationship between differential maternal care received, genotype, and offspring phenotype.

Deciphering pleiotropy: How complex genes regulate behavior.

The genetic underpinnings of animal behavior are exceedingly complex. Behavioral phenotypes are commonly regulated by many genes, and the behavioral effects of a gene often dependent on environmental conditions and genetic background. To complicate the study of behavioral genetics further, many genes that regulate behavioral phenotypes are themselves very complex genes, with several gene products and functions.

The early care environment and DNA methylome variation in childhood.

Prenatal adversity shapes child neurodevelopment and risk for later mental health problems. The quality of the early care environment can buffer some of the negative effects of prenatal adversity on child development. Retrospective studies, in adult samples, highlight epigenetic modifications as sentinel markers of the quality of the early care environment; however, comparable data from pediatric cohorts are lacking.

Epigenetic mechanisms modulate differences in foraging behavior.

Little is known about how genetic variation and epigenetic marks interact to shape differences in behavior. The () gene regulates behavioral differences between the rover and sitter strains, but the molecular mechanisms through which it does so have remained elusive. We show that the epigenetic regulator interacts with to regulate strain-specific adult foraging behavior through allele-specific histone methylation of a promoter (pr4).

Fetal growth interacts with multilocus genetic score reflecting dopamine signaling capacity to predict spontaneous sugar intake in children.

Background: We have shown that intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) leads to increased preference for palatable foods at different ages in both humans and rodents. In IUGR rodents, altered striatal dopamine signaling associates with a preference for palatable foods.

Objectives: Our aim was to investigate if a multilocus genetic score reflecting dopamine-signaling capacity is differently associated with spontaneous palatable food intake in children according to the fetal growth status.

An ant-plant mutualism through the lens of cGMP-dependent kinase genes.

In plant-animal mutualisms, how an animal forages often determines how much benefit its plant partner receives. In many animals, foraging behaviour changes in response to gene expression or activation of the cGMP-dependent protein kinase (PKG) that encodes. Here, we show that this highly conserved molecular mechanism affects the outcome of a plant-animal mutualism.