Pleiotropic Effects of Loss of the Dα1 Subunit in Drosophila melanogaster: Implications for Insecticide Resistance

Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) are a highly conserved gene family that form pentameric receptors involved in fast excitatory synaptic neurotransmission. The specific roles individual nAChR subunits perform in Drosophila melanogaster and other insects are relatively uncharacterized. Of the 10 D. melanogaster nAChR subunits, only three have described roles in behavioral pathways; D alpha 3 and D alpha 4 in sleep, and D alpha 7 in the escape response. Other subunits have been associated with resistance to several classes of insecticides. In particular, our previous work has demonstrated that an allele of the D alpha 1 subunit is associated with resistance to neonicotinoid insecticides. We used ends-out gene targeting to create a knockout of the D alpha 1 gene to facilitate phenotypic analysis in a controlled genetic background. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a native function for any nAChR subunits known to be targeted by insecticides. Loss of D alpha 1 function was associated with changes in courtship, sleep, longevity, and insecticide resistance. While acetylcholine signaling had previously been linked with mating behavior and reproduction in D. melanogaster, no specific nAChR subunit had been directly implicated. The role of D alpha 1 in a number of behavioral phenotypes highlights the importance of understanding the biological roles of nAChRs and points to the fitness cost that may be associated with neonicotinoid resistance.