organisation - the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência

BEHAVIOUR
AND METABOLISM
THIS GROUP IS A MEMBER OF THE CHAMPALIMAUD NEUROSCIENCE PROGRAMME AT THE IGC
Carlos Ribeiro Principal Investigator
PhD in Cell Biology, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland, 2003
Postdoctoral fellow, Biozentrum, University of Basel, Switzerland
Postdoctoral fellow, Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP)
and Institute of Molecular Biotechnology (IMBA) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, Austria
Principal Investigator at the IGC since 2009
link to external website
We are interested in understanding how molecular and cellular mechanisms control
complex biological processes at the level of the whole organism. For this
we are focusing on how the internal metabolic state of the fruit fly Drosophila
melanogaster affects its behavioural decisions. Starting from novel behavioural
paradigms we use molecular genetic techniques to identify and characterise
genes and neuronal populations involved in producing the appropriate behavioural
response to a specific metabolic need of the fly.
MOLECULAR MECHANISMS OF NUTRIENT CHOICE
We want to understand how Drosophila knows what type of nutrients it needs
and which are the molecular mechanisms used by the nervous system to change
the behaviour of the animal to allow it to find and eat the required nutrients.
We have continued investigating how conserved nutrient sensing pathways act
in the nervous system to control feeding. Furthermore, by analysing genes identified
as being required for nutrient choice in a neuronal whole-genome RNAi
screen we are investigating novel molecular mechanisms mediating nutrient homeostasis.
Taken together these studies are providing us with a model and an
entry point for studying nutrient balancing and value-based decision-making at
the molecular level.
GROUP MEMBERS
Laura Napal Belmonte (Post-doc)
Pavel Itskov (Post-doc, started in March)
Ricardo Gonçalves (Post-doc, started in July)
Samantha Herbert (PhD Student)
Veronica Corrales (PhD Student, started in October)
Ana Paula Elias (Lab Manager and Research Assistant)
Célia Modesto Baltazar (Research assistant)
COLLABORATORS
Aldo Faisal (Imperial College London, UK)
Matthew Piper (UCL, London, UK)
Mattias Allenius (Linköping University, Sweden)
FUNDING
Champalimaud Foundation (CF), Portugal
BIAL Foundation, Portugal
NEURONAL MECHANISMS OF NUTRIENT CHOICE
We want to identify and analyse the neuronal networks used by Drosophila
to change the behaviour of the animal to allow it to find and eat the required
nutrients.
We have used genetic approaches to identify neuronal populations which are
required for nutrient choices. Currently we are analysing the identified neuronal
substrates for nutrient homeostasis to understand how these neuronal populations
act to guide feeding decisions.
What type of food should the animal choose?
QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS OF FEEDING BEHAVIOUR IN DROSOPHILA
In collaboration with the laboratory of Aldo Faisal at Imperial College London
we use automated video analysis to quantitatively link genetics to feeding
behaviour in the fruit fly. These studies are providing us insights into the behavioural
strategies used by the fly to maintain nutrient homeostasis as well as
their biological implementation in the nervous system.
Drosophila adult brain (gold) with specific neuronal subsets marked by GFP (green).
Automatically tracked path of a foraging fly.
IGC ANNUAL REPORT ‘11
RESEARCH GROUPS
58