Grant: Operating Grant

Many serious diseases such as obesity and diabetes and are related to an excess of stored fat. This is especially common in affluent countries where overeating and a lack of exercise are common. Stored fat also affects the physiology of the entire organism including its behaviour. We use the fruit fly to investigate natural variation in the foraging gene which encodes a signalling molecule called PKG. Variation in the foraging gene results in two behavioural types, rovers and sitters, which differ in a suite of traits including their food intake, food related movement, learning and memory and lipid metabolism. We use the fruit fly to investigate how this single naturally varying gene which is also found in humans exerts its multiple effects on metabolism and behaviour. Our studies will help us understand how excess fat affect behaviours important to our well-being and survivorship.