Assessment of the role of Nep1 on learning and memory in Drosophila

Learning and memory is generally thought of as the process by which information is encoded, stored, and retrieved in the nervous system. A lot of information is now available about what genes are needed for an organism to remember normally. However, little is known about the genes with the opposite function, i.e. limiting the process of learning and memory (hence, their name, ‘memory suppressor genes’). We do not know the role of these genes for memory, why they exist and do what they do, so research in this area is crucial. The previous efforts have identified several potential Drosophila (fruit fly) memory suppressor genes. One of them is Nep1. Our current aim is to now assess the role of Nep1 on learning and memory in Drosophila. We hope to do so by performing multiple different assays of flies’ memory performance to identify where in the brain it functions, in which phase of memory it functions, and whether Nep1 functions developmentally or in the adult fly to suppress memory. We hypothesize that the role of Nep1 as a novel memory suppressor gene will be reaffirmed as the result of the conducted experiments.

Faculty Supervisor:

Anna Phan

Student:

Partner:

Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Life Sciences (not health)

University:

University of Alberta

Program: