Project Grant 2135305

This three-year, $750,000 project grant from the National Science Foundation's Biological Sciences program (CFDA 47.074) will fund research into the genetic architecture of exploration behavior in Drosophila. The grantee, University of Mississippi, will use novel arena exploration assays and integrated genetic approaches to identify genes and neurons responsible for neophilia, or attraction to novel stimuli. Researchers will determine dopamine signaling requirements for exploratory behavior initiation in Drosophila melanogaster using mutant and transgenic lines. A new genetic mapping population derived from D. melanogaster's sister species will also be used to map genetic variants underlying differences in exploratory behaviors between the two closely related species. This work aims to explain vast inter- and intra-species variations in neophilia and shed light on this trait in other organisms. The grant will train students, including those from underrepresented groups, in scientific inquiry and genetic approaches to neuroscience and behavior.