Alcohol Consumption in Sexually Frustrated Fruit Flies, Drosophila Melanogaster
Alcohol consumption in sexually frustrated fruit flies Drosophila melanogaster
Ankit Sharma
April 8, 2013
BIO 534
Introduction
The fruit flies Drosophila melanogaster show addiction-like behavior towards alcohol where the flies seem to be physiologically dependent on (Atkinson et. al., 2012). The flies can thus exhibit a cognitive dependence where such behavior is stored in memory and same behavior is also shown in the future. This addiction is linked to NPY neuropeptide levels which can be found in Drosophila where these neuropeptides serve as feeding stimulants (Shen et. al., 2005). Alcohol consumption rate is higher when these NPY neuropeptide levels are suppressed (Wilcox, 2012). Thus, such factors are linked to the idea that fruit flies consume food that contains alcohol more than regular food, and such behavior increases over time (Devineni and Heberlein, 2009). Sexual frustration is also linked to increase in consumption of alcohol. Fruit flies consumed less alcohol when they were sexually satisfied because sex raised NPF levels and the flies consumed more alcohol when they were sexually frustrated because their NPF levels were suppressed (Azanchi et. al., 2012).
The purpose of the experiment is to determine if sexually frustrated male fruit flies Drosophila melanogaster resort to alcohol after being rejected by females. Thus, the experiment will determine if the number of sexually frustrated fruit flies will be higher where there is alcohol in the environment than non-sexually frustrated fruit flies. The hypothesis to be tested is null hypothesis. The null hypothesis states that sexual frustration has no effect on alcohol consumption by male fruit flies. Thus, there will not be a significantly higher number of rejected male fruit flies in an alcohol environment than non-sexually frustrated flies.
Materials and Methods
Two plastic cylindrical vials were used to place wingless wild type fruit flies. The vials contained same amount of medium for
Ankit Sharma
April 8, 2013
BIO 534
Introduction
The fruit flies Drosophila melanogaster show addiction-like behavior towards alcohol where the flies seem to be physiologically dependent on (Atkinson et. al., 2012). The flies can thus exhibit a cognitive dependence where such behavior is stored in memory and same behavior is also shown in the future. This addiction is linked to NPY neuropeptide levels which can be found in Drosophila where these neuropeptides serve as feeding stimulants (Shen et. al., 2005). Alcohol consumption rate is higher when these NPY neuropeptide levels are suppressed (Wilcox, 2012). Thus, such factors are linked to the idea that fruit flies consume food that contains alcohol more than regular food, and such behavior increases over time (Devineni and Heberlein, 2009). Sexual frustration is also linked to increase in consumption of alcohol. Fruit flies consumed less alcohol when they were sexually satisfied because sex raised NPF levels and the flies consumed more alcohol when they were sexually frustrated because their NPF levels were suppressed (Azanchi et. al., 2012).
The purpose of the experiment is to determine if sexually frustrated male fruit flies Drosophila melanogaster resort to alcohol after being rejected by females. Thus, the experiment will determine if the number of sexually frustrated fruit flies will be higher where there is alcohol in the environment than non-sexually frustrated fruit flies. The hypothesis to be tested is null hypothesis. The null hypothesis states that sexual frustration has no effect on alcohol consumption by male fruit flies. Thus, there will not be a significantly higher number of rejected male fruit flies in an alcohol environment than non-sexually frustrated flies.
Materials and Methods
Two plastic cylindrical vials were used to place wingless wild type fruit flies. The vials contained same amount of medium for
Cited: Atkinson, N. S., S. Khurana, A. Kuperman, B. Robinson. 2012. Neural Adaptation Leads to Cognitive Dependence. Current Biol. 22, 2338-2341. Azanchi, R. U. Heberlein, H. Mohammed, G. Shohat-Phir. 2012. Sexual Deprivation Increases Ethanol Intake in Drosophila. Science. 335, 1351-1355 Devineni, A. V., Heberlein, U. 2009. Preferential Ethanol Consumption in Drosophila Models Features of Addiction. Curr. Biol. 2126-2132. Shen, P., Q. Wu, J. Xu, Y. Zhang. 2005. Regulation of hunger-driven behaviors by neural ribosomal S6 kinase in Drosophila. PNAS. 102, 13289-13294. Wilcox, C. 2012. Sexually deprived Drosophila become bar flies. Scientific American.