BIO525

GENETIC APPROACHES TO
UNDERSTANDING ANIMAL BEHAVIOR (1cr)

Genetic experiments in model organisms such as worms, flies and mice have significantly contributed to our understanding of animal behavior.  Studies in these systems will be used as the basis for this literature-based course to explore topics including chemosensation (smell and taste), pheromone signaling (mating behavior) and alcohol-modulated behaviors. Students will read and present primary literature that has helped to build our understanding of the signal systems underlying these animal behaviors. 

Time and Location: 08/29/11 – 9/30/11
T,Th 11am - 12:15pm
351 Cooke
 
Instructor: Dr. Denise Ferkey
C353 Cooke Hall
645-4929
dmferkey@buffalo.edu
 
Office Hours:  By appointment

There will be no formal textbook for this course.  Instead, review articles and primary literature will be used.  These will all be posted on UB Learns.

Grading: Students will take turns presenting primary literature to the rest of the class.  Final grades will be based on the quality of these presentations as well as class participation in the discussions about these papers.
 
Makeup policy: Presentation make-ups will be handled on a case-by-case basis and will be considered for medical reasons only.  No student may miss more than one day of class to receive a passing grade, except in the case of medical emergency.

It is each student's responsibility to obtain lecture notes and learn the material covered.  Similarly, each student is responsible for any announcement given in class -`Not being in class’ is not an excuse. 

Date:
Course Schedule:

8/30

 Introduction to signal transduction
9/1
 Introduction to olfaction and chemsensation

Olfaction readings:

The 2004 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine – press release

Buck, The molecular architecture of odor and pheromone sensing in mammals, Cell (2000) – review

Buck, Olfactory receptors and odor coding in mammals, Nutrition Reviews (2004) – review

Mombaerts, Genes and ligands for odorant, vomeronasal and taste receptors, Nature Reviews Neuroscience (2004) – review

Bargmann, Chemosensation in C. elegans, WormBook (2006) – review

DeMaria and Ngai, The cell biology of smell, JCB (2010) – review

Bargmann and Horvitz, Chemosensory neurons with overlapping functions direct chemotaxis to multiple chemicals in C. elegans, Neuron (1991

Bargmann et al., Odorant-selective genes and neurons mediate olfaction in C. elegans, Cell (1993

Buck and Axel, A novel multigene family may encode odorant receptors: a molecular basis for odor recognition, Cell (1991)

Sengupta et al., odr-10 encodes a seven transmembrane domain olfactory receptor required for responses to the odorant diacetyl, Cell (1996)

de Bono and Bargmann, Natural variation in a neuropeptide Y receptor homolog modifies social behavior and food response in C. elegans, Cell (1998)

Gray et al., Oxygen sensation and social feeding mediated by a C. elegans guanylate cyclase homolog, Nature (2004)
9/6
 Olfaction in C. elegans, student presentations:

Bargmann and Horvitz (1991)

Bargmann et al. (1993)
9/8
 Olfactory receptors, student presentations:

Buck and Axel (1991)

Sengupta et al. (1996)
9/13
 Social feeding behavior in C. elegans, student presentations:

de Bono and Bargmann (1998)

Gray et al. (2002)
9/15
 Introduction to pheromone signals
Pheromone readings:

Jane Gitschier, Vive La Difference: An Interview with Catherine Dulac, PLoS Genetics (2011) – interview

Dulac and Torello, Molecular Detection of Pheromone Signals in Mammals: From Genes to Behavior, Nature Neuroscience (2003) – review article

Liman and Dulac, TRPC2 and the Molecular Biology of Pheromone Detection in Mammals, Sensory Transduction and Cellular Signaling Cascades, NCBI Bookshelf (2007) – review article

Dulac and Axel, A Novel Family of Genes Encoding Putative Pheromone Receptors in Mammals, Cell (1995)

Herrada and Dulac, A Novel Family of Putative Pheromone Receptors in Mammals with a Topographically Organized and Sexually Dimorphic Distribution, Cell (1997)

Young et al., Divergent V1R Repertoires in Five Species: Amplification in Rodents, Decimation in Primates, and a Surprisingly Small Repertoire in Dogs, Genome Research (2011)

Liman et al., TRP2: A Candidate Transduction Channel for Mammalian Pheromone Sensory Signaling, PNAS (1999)

Stowers et at., Loss of Sex Discrimination and Male-Male Aggression in Mice Deficient for TRP2, Science (2002)

Kimchi et al., A Functional Circuit Underlying Male Sexual Behavior in the Female Mouse Brain, Nature (2007)
9/20
 Pheromone signaling – cloning the receptors, student presentations

Dulac and Axel et al. (1995)

Young et al. (2011)
9/22
 Pheromone signaling – TRP2, student presentations

Liman et al. (1999)

Stowers et al. (2002)
9/27
 Pheromone signaling – TRP2, student presentations continued
Alcohol-related behaviors, student presentation

Kimchi et al. (2007)

Moore et al. (1998)

Alcohol readings:

Moore et al., Ethanol Intoxication in Drosophila: genetic and pharmacological evidence for regulation by the cAMP signaling pathway, Cell (1998)

Scholz et al., The hangover gene defines a stress pathway required for ethanol tolerance development, Nature (2005)

Corl et al., Happyhour, a Ste20 family kinase, implicates EGFR signaling in ethanol-induced behaviors, Cell (2009)
9/29
 alcohol-related behaviors, student presentations:

Scholz et al. (2005)

Corl et al. (2009)