Rory Coleman
New York University, NY·Neuroscience·Early-career
How does evolution rewire the brain to produce new behaviors? Closely related fruit fly species court their mates differently, and each species prefers the chemical signals, called pheromones, of its own kind.
- Fields
Neuroscience
Ecology & Evolution
Genetics
- Topics
Drosophila
fruit fly
drosophilids
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Aug 2028
What they work on
- Identify where pheromone-processing circuits differ among four Drosophila species, linking species-specific mate preferences to neural responses measured by in vivo imaging and high-resolution courtship tracking.
- Find genes expressed differently in P1 interneurons, the cells that gate male courtship, using RNA sequencing across species, then test how these genes alter P1 excitability, connectivity and mate preference.
- Determine when and how Fruitless, a transcription factor that specifies male courtship circuitry, organizes the sex-specific anatomy and function of P1 neurons in D. melanogaster males.
- Use Targeted DamID, a method to map where a protein binds DNA in chosen cells, to test how changes in Fruitless target genes specify new courtship behaviors across species.
More about the research
Comparing the same neurons across these species offers a way to see which molecular and circuit changes evolution uses to build new behaviors. Knowing these rules could also guide future efforts to steer neurons toward the right identity and wiring, which regenerative therapies for brain disease and injury will require.
Why it matters
Disorders such as autism and Alzheimer's disease involve circuits that have lost their normal balance of excitation and inhibition. Regenerative therapies for these conditions, and for stroke and brain injury, are limited by how little is known about directing new neurons into the right identity and circuit role. Rules uncovered from evolving fly courtship circuits could help inform that effort.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Daniel Barbash
Cornell University, NY·Genetics
Identify the maternal factors in D. simulans that interact with a D. melanogaster-specific satellite DNA block, a large repetitive non-coding region, to cause chromosome instability and lethality in first-generation hybrids.
Jagan Srinivasan
Worcester Polytechnic Institute, MA·Neuroscience
Define how NLP-3 neuropeptides drive hermaphrodite avoidance of the pheromone ascaroside-8 in C. elegans, using CRISPR mutants, rescue with synthetic peptides, and quantitative behavioral assays.
Anupama Dahanukar
University of California-Riverside, CA·Neuroscience
Identify genes that reduce responses of bitter, deterrent taste neurons to noni fatty acids in Drosophila sechellia, testing candidate Gustatory receptors, Odorant-binding proteins and Ionotropic receptors.
The school
New York University: 72 labs on PI Pages, $1.5B a year on research, 540 research doctorates a year.
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