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The genetic architecture of complex behaviors: lessons from Drosophila

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Abstract

Complex behaviors are affected by multiple interacting loci with individually small and environmentally sensitive effects. Understanding the genetic architecture of behavioral traits begins with identifying the genes regulating these traits, mapping the subset of genetically varying quantitative trait loci (QTLs) in natural populations, and pinpointing the molecular polymorphisms defining QTL alleles. Drosophila brings an impressive toolkit to the challenge of genetically dissecting complex traits: P transposable element mutagenesis to identify genes regulating these traits; artificial selection from natural populations to create extreme trait phenotypes; high resolution mapping to identify positional candidate genes corresponding to QTLs; linkage disequilibrium mapping to identify molecular polymorphism(s) that functionally define QTL alleles; and whole genome transcriptional profiling to postulate networks of interacting genes affecting complex traits. Studies in Drosophila have revealed large numbers of pleiotropic genes that interact epistatically to regulate behavioral traits, and that can have sex- and environment-specific effects. These observations offer valuable lessons for understanding the genetic basis of variation for complex behaviors in other organisms, including humans.

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Abbreviations

QTL:

Quantitative trait locus

QTN:

Quantitative trait nucleotide

SNP:

Single nucleotide polymorphism

cM:

centi-Morgan

LD:

Linkage disequilibrium

GEI:

Genotype by environment interaction

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Acknowledgements

This work was funded by National Institutes of Health grants R01 GM45146, R01 GM076083 and R01 AA016560 to Trudy Mackay, and R01 GM59469 to Robert Anholt. I thank my colleague, Robert Anholt, who co-directed much of this work and provides daily inspiration, and Hugo Bellen for the generous gift of the co-isogenic P{GT1} insert lines that were constructed in his laboratory. Many thanks also to the whole team who contributed to this work—you know who you are.

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  1. Department of Genetics and The Keck Center for Behavioral Biology, North Carolina State University, Campus Box 7614, Raleigh, NC, 27695, USA

    Trudy F. C. Mackay

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  1. Trudy F. C. Mackay
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Correspondence to Trudy F. C. Mackay.

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Mackay, T.F.C. The genetic architecture of complex behaviors: lessons from Drosophila . Genetica 136, 295–302 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10709-008-9310-6

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