Genetic approaches to the study of memory in insects

This article provides a short summary of studies carried out on mutant Drosophila with defects in learning ability, including our own experimental data on the role of the tryptophan oxygenase gene (this is a key enzyme, and is the first enzyme in the tryptophan-ommochrome metabolic pathway) in the inherited determination of learning ability and memory in the honey bee. A set of allelic mutations was used which inhibit the activity of this enzyme to different extents, resulting in the complete lack of kynurenines or particular levels of kynurenine deficiency in the mutant organisms. The effects of mutations at the snow locus (snow, s, snowlaranja, sla) on the dynamics of memory trace formation after single training sessions were studied in the honey bee and were related to the activity of the enzyme responsible for hydrolysis of cyclic nucleotides (phosphodiesterase). Relationships were found between the level of disruption in the dynamics of memory trace formation and changes in kynurenine content and phosphodiesterase activity.