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1st appeared 4 September 1998 Roundworms Offer Insight into Genetic Influence on Social Behaviors Some roundworms dine alone, while others sup socially, and the reason for the variation, report UCSF researchers, comes down to a single gene. Their study, the cover article in the September 4 issue of the journal Cell, offers a startling insight into the influence that a single gene can have on behavior. The gene identified is closely related to the neuropeptide Y receptor gene in humans, which has previously been implicated in controlling appetite. This serendipitous finding offers the tantalizing suggestion, still in the realm of speculation, said the researchers, that some element of the roundworm gene has been conserved in higher species through evolution. Regardless, the finding would not suggest a genetic explanation for why some party goers graze on their own and others cluster around the potato chips. What it does offer, said the senior investigator of the study, Cornelia I. Bargmann, an assistant investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and a professor of anatomy at UCSF, is an avenue for exploring the relative contribution of single and multiple genes to the development of innate behaviors, particularly social behaviors. While it is the way in which environmental stimuli play the genetic cords of higher species that creates unique responses in complex animals, insights into the genetic component could offer some understanding of the way in which behaviors develop. Genetic influences are particularly pronounced in simpler creatures, which lack intricate character development. The discovery that roundworms' feeding behavior is dictated by a single gene calls into question the prevailing assumption that innate behaviors result from numerous genes acting in concert, even in simpler species, such as fruit flies. "The discovery that a clearly defined trait is accounted for by one gene -- and by one nucleotide within that gene -- was a shocker," said Bargmann. "It really is kind of remarkable." source: Jennifer O'Brien, News Services |
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