A Phenotypic Assay and Genome-Wide Association Study of the foraging gene (for) in Drosophila melanogaster

Abstract

Drosophila melanogaster exhibit disparities in foraging behavior attributed to allelic variation of the (for) gene. Foraging behavior, however, is a complex, quantitative trait. To better understand the genetic mechanisms behind complex traits, we conducted a phenotypic assay of third instar Drosophila melanogaster larvae of three different (for) genotypes: rover, sitter, and null. The parameters used for phenotypic analysis were path length and turning rate over a controlled period of time. Video data was collected and phenotypes were measured in MATLAB, presenting a novel and more accurate phenotyping methodology. A genome-wide association study (GWAS) was also conducted to verify which, if any, single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the (for) region have a causal effect on phenotypic polymorphism in foraging behavior.