Biology subjects

Mudunuri, A.

Publications and source records attributed to Mudunuri, A..

5 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

Brain-wide processing of gustatory information for gradient navigation in Drosophila larvae

Foraging in naturalistic environments is often challenging, as animals must evaluate varying sensory cues to locate optimal food sources. To successfully navigate a taste gradient, where perceived concentrations change over space and time, animals need to compare previously encountered taste qualities with current information. How such short-term taste memories are implemented in the brain and used to guide navigation remains poorly understood. Due to their powerful genetic toolkit and whole-brain connectome, Drosophila larvae are an excellent model organism for investigating the neural basis underlying taste gradient navigation. Using linear fructose and salt gradients, we show that larvae are attracted to high fructose concentrations, whereas they avoid high salt concentrations. To identify the neural basis underlying taste gradient navigation, we tested the role of cell types from the peripheral chemosensory system to higher brain regions. Contrary to conclusions from simple two-choice preference assays, we show that gradient navigation depends on different cell types across multiple layers of chemosensory processing and associative learning circuits, including mushroom body neurons. Attractive and aversive taste signals are conveyed through parallel, partially overlapping pathways that converge onto mushroom body output neurons, where they are integrated to shape motor behaviors during chemotaxis.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2026

Environmental statistics and sensory experience shape patch foraging strategies in Drosophila larvae

Animals foraging in patchy environments must balance exploiting current resources with exploring for better alternatives to maximize resource intake and to survive. However, the neural and computational mechanisms underlying such adaptive decisions have just recently begun to be understood. Using Drosophila larvae as an experimentally tractable model, we combine long-timescale behavioral tracking in controlled patchy environments with varying statistics, along with quantitative analysis and computational modeling, to dissect foraging decision strategies. We show that larvae flexibly adjust their behavior according to both the quality and valence of available resources, shaped by prior foraging experience. A simple integration model recapitulates larval patch-leaving behavior, with model parameters tuned by environmental statistics and foraging history. Together, these findings establish Drosophila larvae as a powerful system for studying adaptive foraging and for uncovering the neural circuit mechanisms that implement experience-dependent foraging decisions.

systems biology↗

bioRxiv2025

Multimodal social context modulates behavior in larval Drosophila

All animals need to navigate and make decisions in social environments. They influence each others behavior, but how important this is and how they process and represent social information in their brain is less well understood. This includes fruit flies and fly larvae, which are usually not known as "social insects". Using a Drosophila larva assay with reduced stimulation, we found that larval groups show enhanced dispersal and distance from each other in the absence of food. This social context-dependent modulation overrides responses to other external sensory cues and is shaped by developmental social experience. Leveraging the genetic toolbox available in Drosophila, we find that different sensory modalities are required for normal social context modulation. Our results show that even less social animals like fly larvae are affected by conspecifics and that they recognize each other through multimodal sensory cues. This study provides a tractable system for future dissection of the neural circuit mechanisms underlying social interactions.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2023

Diet-induced plasticity of life-history traits and gene expression in outbred Drosophila melanogaster population

Food is fundamental for the survival of organisms, governing growth, maintenance, and reproduction through the provision of essential macronutrients. However, access to food with optimum macronutrient composition, which will maximize the evolutionary fitness of an organism, is not always guaranteed. This leads to dietary mismatches with potential impacts on organismal performance. To understand the consequences of such dietary mismatches, we examined the effects of isocaloric diets varying in macronutrient composition on eight key organismal traits spanning across the lifespan of a large outbred Drosophila melanogaster population (n [~] 2500). Our findings reveal that carbohydrate-reduced isocaloric diets correlates to accelerated pre-adult development and boosts reproductive output without impacting pre-adult viability and body size. Conversely, an elevated dietary carbohydrate content correlated to reduced lifespan in flies, evidenced by accelerated functional senescence including compromised locomotor activity and deteriorating gut integrity. Furthermore, transcriptomic analysis indicated a substantial difference in gene regulatory landscapes between flies subject to high carbohydrate vs high protein diet, with elevated protein levels indicating transcriptomes primed for reduced synthesis of fatty acids. Taken together, our study helps advance our understanding of the effect of macronutrient composition on life history traits and their interrelations, offering critical insights into potential adaptive strategies that organisms might adopt against the continual dietary imbalances prevalent in the rapidly evolving environment.

evolutionary biology↗

bioRxiv2019

Adult crowding induces sexual dimorphism in chronic stress-response in Drosophila melanogaster

Stress-induced mood disorders such as depression and anxiety are sexually dimorphic in human beings. Studying behavioural stress-responses in non-human animal models can help better understand the behavioural manifestations of these disorders and the dimorphism in their prevalence. Here we explore how sexes show differential behavioural responses to different chronic stressors, both abiotic and biotic, by using outbred populations of Drosophila melanogaster. The behaviours studied - namely, anhedonia, motivation to explore a novel habitat, locomotor activity and sleep levels - have been well-investigated in human and rodent-based models of stress disorders. These behaviours were studied in the context of two different stressors - mechanical perturbation and adult crowding. Responses to stress were found to be sexually dimorphic, and stressed females showed more behavioural changes, such as a reduced motivation to explore a novel habitat. Furthermore, adult crowding caused a greater number of sexually dimorphic behavioural changes than mechanical perturbation. For instance, while mechanical perturbation caused anhedonia across sexes, only females were anhedonic after crowding. We thus make a case for Drosophila melanogaster as a model system for studying sexual dimorphism in stress-induced mood disorders in humans.\n\nSUMMARY STATEMENTFemale fruit flies, like their human counterparts, are more prone to chronic stress-induced mood disorders like anhedonia or reduced activity. This sexual dimorphism was more evident in a biotic stress.

ecology↗