Genetics of Alcohol-Induced Behaviors in Drosophila

Researchers frequently study the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster as a model system for mammalian development and behavior. Drosophila appear resistant to alcohol’s toxic effects and display many behaviors resembling intoxication (e.g., impaired motor control) when exposed to alcohol vapors. Accordingly, investigators have begun to measure alcohol sensitivity in Drosophila and to identify genetic mutations associated with increased or decreased sensitivity. One mutant called cheapdate affects a signaling system that plays a role in many regulatory processes in a cell and which involves the compound cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP). Additional Drosophila mutants with altered alcohol sensitivity carry mutations in other components of the cAMP signaling system. Because the cAMP system also is affected in human alcoholics, these results indicate that studies using Drosophila as a model system may identify genetic changes relevant to human alcoholism.