My research mainly focuses on the molecular basis and neural circuits underlying insect behaviors in studying the model organism Drosophila melanogaster. We explore the drosophila pollination systems and the interactions of Drosophila and their host plants, with the research technologies of model animals, as the inter-discipline study of ecology and neurobiology. At present, significant research progress has been made in the sensory mechanism in the Drosophila-orchid pollination system and the oviposition selection of Drosophila host plants.

　　　　1) Floral olfactory attraction mechanism of the pollination system of the Drosophila and Cypripedium species

　　During the growth of angiosperms, flowering plants use various signals to attract pollinators. The attractiveness of these plant signals is beneficial to both sides in a rewarding pollination system, while in deceptive pollination, they are neutral/antagonistic to insects. However, deceptive pollination, which seems to be at an evolutionary disadvantage, is widespread, especially in orchids. By combining the behavioral mechanism of model organisms and the multidisciplinary strategy of behavioral experiments of various fruit flies, our study revealed the neural basis of the pollination process and the evolutionary model of plant-insect interaction.

　　　　2) Evolutionary patterns of Drosophila oviposition strategy in host-plant selection

　　In the complex oviposition behavior of Drosophila, the evaluation of matrix nutrients and texture hardness is critical because it determines whether its offspring will grow in a suitable environment. Our study found significant differences in whether nutritional and hardness signals regulate oviposition site selection among different species in the subgenus Drosophila and Sophophora. These differences in behavioral decision-making and ovipositor morphology may be accompanied by the process of Drosophila adapting to different types of host plants and evolutionary differentiation.

　　Publications

　　    1) Shuai Y., Lu BY, Hu Y., Wang L., Sun K., Zhong Y., (2010). Forgetting is regulated through Rac activity in Drosophila. Cell, 140:579-589

　　    2) Shao L., Shuai Y., Wang J., Feng S., Lu B., Li Z., Zhao Y., Wang L., Zhong Y., (2011) Schizophrenia susceptibility gene dysbindin regulates glutamatergic and dopaminergic functions via distinctive mechanisms in Drosophila. PNAS, 108: 18831-18836

　　    3) Lu BY*, Shao L S*, Feng S X, et al. The β-alanyl-monoamine synthase ebony is regulated by schizophrenia susceptibility gene dysbindin in Drosophila. Sci China Life Sci, 2014 Jan; 57(1):46-51.

　    　4）Lu BY*, Zhao Y*, et al. The Carboxypeptidases D homolog silver regulates memory formation via insulin pathway in Drosophila. Protein and Cell 2016 Aug;7(8):606-10.

　　    5）Shao LS*, Lu BY*, et al.Disrupted-in-Schizophrenia-1 (DISC1) protein disturbs neural function in multiple disease-risk pathways. Human molecular Genetics 2017 Jul 15;26(14):2634-2648

　　    6）L Wang, Q Yang, BY Lu, et al. J Genet Genomics. A behavioral paradigm to study the persistence of reward memory extinction in Drosophila. 2019 Dec 20;46(12):599-601.

　　    7) Zhang W., Liu L., He S, Lu BY￥, Luo Y. “The production and evolution pattern of “fruity smell" aggregation pheromones in genus Drosophila”, Journal of Systematics and Evolution 2020, Accepted.

　　￥Authors for correspondence *Equal contribution