Critical role for protein kinase A in the acquisition of gregarious behavior in the desert locust.

ABSTRACT: The mechanisms that integrate genetic and environmental information to coordinate the expression of complex phenotypes are little understood. We investigated the role of two protein kinases (PKs) in the population density-dependent transition to gregarious behavior that underlies swarm formation in desert locusts: the foraging gene product, a cGMP-dependent PK (PKG) implicated in switching between alternative group-related behaviors in several animal species; and cAMP-dependent PK (PKA), a signal transduction protein with a preeminent role in different forms of learning. Solitarious locusts acquire key behavioral characters of the swarming gregarious phase within just 1 to 4 h of forced crowding. Injecting the PKA inhibitor KT5720 before crowding prevented this transition, whereas injectin

SUBMITTER: Ott SR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3289381 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature