use of spatial information and search strategies in a water maze analog in drosophila melanogaster利用水迷宫空间信息和搜索策略的模拟在黑腹果蝇.pdfVIP

Use of Spatial Information and Search Strategies in a Water Maze Analog in Drosophila melanogaster 1 1,2 1 Julien Foucaud *, James G. Burns , Frederic Mery ´ ´ 1 Laboratoire Evolution, Genomes et Speciation, UPR-CNRS 9034, Gif/Yvette, France, 2 Department of Biology, University of Toronto at Mississauga, Mississauga, Canada Abstract Learning the spatial organization of the environment is crucial to fitness in most animal species. Understanding proximate and ultimate factors underpinning spatial memory is thus a major goal in the study of animal behavior. Despite considerable interest in various aspects of its behavior and biology, the model species Drosophila melanogaster lacks a standardized apparatus to investigate spatial learning and memory. We propose here a novel apparatus, the heat maze, conceptually based on the Morris water maze used in rodents. Using the heat maze, we demonstrate that D. melanogaster flies are able to use either proximal or distal visual cues to increase their performance in navigating to a safe zone. We also show that flies are actively using the orientation of distal visual cues when relevant in targeting the safe zone, i.e., Drosophila display spatial learning. Parameter-based classification of search strategies demonstrated the progressive use of spatially precise search strategies during learning. We discuss the opportunity to unravel the mechanistic and evolutionary bases of spatial learning in Drosophila using the heat maze. Citation: Foucaud J, Burns JG, Mery F (2010) Use of Spatial Information and Search Strategies in a Water Maze Analog in Drosophila melanogaster. PLoS ONE 5(12): e15231. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0015231 Editor: Troy Zars, Unive