Biogenic amines are involved in virtually every behaviour. To explain this ubiquitousness, evidence from a variety of model systems and paradigms has been collected to formulate the orchestration hypothesis, namely, that a finely tuned, heterogeneous set of aminergic actions is involved in preparing, training and executing behaviours. Today, the behavioural paradigms and neurobiological tools are becoming available to dissect the individual aminergic contributions to motivation, learning and motor control. We will use the genetic power of the fruit fly Drosophila in four separate but interacting projects to tackle this task. We will use sophisticated manipulations of octopamine either in the entire animal or by tissue-specific alterations of octopaminergic activity. These manipulations will have their effect either throughout the lifetime of the individual, or in a spatiotemporally controlled fashion. Fly strains with these manipulations will be tested in several behavioral paradigms to establish the necessity and sufficiency of octopaminergic action in the targeted octopaminergic sub-circuits. We will study four different behaviors: flight, learning, walking and aggression. Changes in the state of the animal will be brought about by either starving or isolating the animals. The combination of spatiotemporally controlled manipulation of octopaminergic action, manipulation of the state of the animal together with state-of-the-art behavioural testing allows for an unprecedented refinement and depth of analysis. The results will not only be shared within the research unit and then published, serving the invertebrate research community. Because the occurrence of octopamine is restricted to invertebrates, our results will have direct consequences for developing efficient, safe and specific pest control.
