Science & Technology, Canada (Commonwealth Union) – A team of researchers from the University of Toronto has identified a gene in fruit flies that regulates the types of connections within their “social network.”
The researchers studied two distinct strains of Drosophila melanogaster and discovered that one strain exhibited different connection patterns within their networks compared to the other strain.
In the past Drosophila melanogaster, commonly known as the fruit fly, was a cornerstone of genetic research for over a century. This small, seemingly insignificant insect has profoundly impacted our understanding of genetics, developmental biology, and evolution. The reasons for its prominence in scientific research are multifaceted, encompassing its biological characteristics, ease of maintenance, and the depth of genetic tools available.
Drosophila’s genome, which was fully sequenced in 2000, consists of approximately 180 million base pairs and around 14,000 genes. Remarkably, about 60% of Drosophila genes have counterparts in humans. They also display a variety of easily observable mutations, such as changes in eye color, wing shape, and body size.
The fruit fly’s journey into the spotlight of genetic research began in the early 20th century with the pioneering work of Thomas Hunt Morgan. Morgan and his colleagues at Columbia University used Drosophila to establish the chromosomal theory of inheritance, demonstrating that genes are located on chromosomes. Their work provided critical evidence for the existence of genes and laid the foundation for modern genetics. Morgan’s discovery of sex-linked inheritance in Drosophila, through the study of white-eyed mutants, earned him the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1933.
They isolated the connectivity-associated gene from the first strain. When they introduced this gene into the second strain, the flies began to display the connectivity patterns of the first strain.
The researchers selected the name for this gene “degrees of Kevin Bacon” (dokb), after the prolific Hollywood actor known for films like Footloose and Apollo 13. This name references the parlour game “The Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon,” which is based on the idea that any two people on Earth can be linked via six or fewer mutual acquaintances.
There’s been extensive research into whether social network structures are inherited, but the question has remained vague in understanding according Rebecca Rooke, a post-doctoral fellow in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology in the Faculty of Arts & Science and lead author of a paper published in Nature Communications. She further pointed out that what they have currently done is identify the gene involved and demonstrate a genetic component.
This research was part of Rooke’s PhD thesis in Professor Joel Levine’s laboratory at U of T Mississauga prior to him moving to the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, where he serves as chair at the present.
This provides a genetic perspective on the structure of social groups, according to Levine, who added that it is significant because it reveals important insights into the general nature of social interactions and the species-specific structure of social networks.
“It’s exciting to be thinking about the relationship between genetics and the group in this way. It may be the first time we’ve been able to do this.”
“You don’t get a good or a bad outcome from the structure of a network,” says Levine. “The structure of a network could carry happiness or a disease.”
Rooke emphasizes that a crucial next step is to identify the entire molecular pathway associated with the gene and its protein. This involves understanding the protein’s functions and the pathways it participates in. He emphasized that the answers to those questions will really give us plenty of insight into the way these networks function.
Although the dokb gene has only been identified in flies so far, Rooke, Levine, and their team expect to discover similar molecular pathways linking genes and social networks in other species.
“For example, there’s a subset of cells in the human brain whose function relates to social experience – what in the popular press might be called the ‘social brain,’” explained Levine.
“Getting from the fly to the human brain – that’s another line of research. But it almost has to be true that the things that we’re observing in insects will be found in a more nuanced, more dispersed way in the mammalian brain.”
