Hosoda, K. | Search bioRxiv

bioRxiv2021

Analysis of Multisensory-Motor Integration in Olfactory Navigation of Silkmoth, Bombyx mori, using Virtual Reality System

Most animals survive and thrive due to navigation behavior to reach their destinations. In order to navigate, it is important for animals to integrate information obtained from multisensory inputs and use that information to modulate their behavior. In this study, by using a virtual reality (VR) system for an insect, we investigated how an adult silkmoth integrates visual and wind direction information during female search behavior (olfactory behavior). According to the behavioral experiments using the VR system, the silkmoth had the highest navigation success rate when odor, vision, and wind information were correctly provided. However, we found that the success rate of the search significantly reduced if wind direction information was provided that was incorrect from the direction actually detected. This indicates that it is important to acquire not only odor information, but also wind direction information correctly. In other words, Behavior was modulated by the degree of co-incidence between the direction of arrival of the odor and the direction of arrival of the wind, and posture control (angular velocity control) was modulated by visual information. We mathematically modeled the modulation of behavior using multisensory information and evaluated it by simulation. As a result, the mathematical model not only succeeded in reproducing the actual female search behavior of the silkmoth, but can also improve search success relative to the conventional odor source search algorithm.

systems biology↗

bioRxiv2020

A model ecosystem of twelve cryopreservable microbial species allowing for a non-invasive approach

Simultaneous understanding of both individual and ecosystem dynamics is crucial in an era marked by the degradation of ecosystem services. Herein, we present a high-throughput synthetic microcosm system comprising 12 functionally and phylogenetically diverse microbial species. These species are axenically culturable, cryopreservable, and can be measured noninvasively via microscopy, aided by machine learning. This system includes prokaryotic and eukaryotic producers and decomposers, and eukaryotic consumers to ensure functional redundancy. Our model system displayed both positive and negative interspecific interactions and higher-order interactions that surpassed the scope of any two-species interaction. Although complete species coexistence was not our primary objective, we identified several conditions under which at least one species from the producers, consumers, and decomposers groups, and one functionally redundant species, persisted for over six months. These conditions set the stage for detailed investigations in the future. Given its designability and experimental replicability, our model ecosystem offers a promising platform for deeper insights into both individual and ecosystem dynamics, including evolution and species interactions.

microbiology↗