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Full-Text Articles in Behavioral Neurobiology
Assessing The Role Of Drosophila Melanogaster Neuroligin 3 On Social Spacing And Climbing Behaviour, J. Wesley Robinson
Assessing The Role Of Drosophila Melanogaster Neuroligin 3 On Social Spacing And Climbing Behaviour, J. Wesley Robinson
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
Autism spectrum disorders can be clinically defined in part by impairments of social interactions. Social interactions can be modeled in Drosophila melanogaster with behaviours such as social spacing. Here, I examined the effects of autism-related gene neuroligin 3 on fly social spacing. I hypothesized if neuroligin 3 is mutated or gene expression is targeted for knockdown, then flies will have altered social space in males and females at different ages. Using the social space assay, I found that different mutations to neuroligin 3 change the fly’s behavior, in a mutation and sex-specific manner. Using an antibody against Nlg3, I localized …