BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//Talks.cam//talks.cam.ac.uk//
X-WR-CALNAME:Talks.cam
BEGIN:VEVENT
SUMMARY:Understanding how behaviour evolves - Dr Mario de Bono\, Laborator
 y of Molecular Biology
DTSTART:20080418T110000Z
DTEND:20080418T113000Z
UID:TALK11698@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Hannah Critchlow
DESCRIPTION:Behavioural evolution can occur rapidly: even within a species
  different populations often exhibit distinct behaviours.  We are using th
 e free-living nematode C. elegans to investigate how behaviour evolve at t
 he level of DNA and proteins\, neurons and neural circuits\, and the entir
 e behaving organism.  C. elegans offers special advantages to this endeavo
 ur\, because hundreds of different wild isolates have been isolated from a
 ll over the world and can be frozen as viable stocks.  The connectivity pa
 tterns of the 302 neurons that make up the C. elegans nervous system are a
 lso known from EM reconstructions. We are focussing our studies on variati
 on in foraging behaviour. C. elegans feeds on micro-organisms\, which it l
 ocates using olfactory\, gustatory and mechanical cues\, as well as ambien
 t oxygen and carbon dioxide levels.  These sensory inputs are integrated b
 y the animal to coordinate its foraging behaviour. Different wild isolates
  of C. elegans show distinct patterns of foraging. I will discuss several 
 ways in which C. elegans foraging behaviour has evolved: \n(1) By reconfig
 uring the contribution of different neural circuits to behavioral output\;
  (2) By sculpting sensitivity to a sensory stimulus\; (3) By altering sens
 ory adaptation to a stimulus\; (4) By altering hub molecules that coordina
 tely regulate related sensory responses. \nThese mechanisms are likely to 
 be generally applicable to behavioural evolution in different animals.
LOCATION:Physiology Lecture Theatre
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR