A Reverse Genetics Approach to Examining Drosophila Social Interaction Networks (SINs)

Social network analysis is a powerful tool for understanding the underlying mechanisms that regulate the evolution of sociality. The social behaviour of individuals manifests in non-random inter-individual social interactions, including cooperation in foraging, mating, and competition. These interactions comprise the social network of the population, affecting group-level processes such as information flow and disease transmission. Social network structure is quantifiable; therefore, understanding the reciprocal relationship between these processes and network structure could provide insight into the fitness consequences of various social behaviour strategies, and why they persist within the population. Most studies which utilize the network approach rely on observational data of animal populations. These studies are limited because researchers are unable to manipulate the genetic and social environment. Therefore, the objective of my thesis is to provide insight into how social interaction network (SIN) structure is affected by genetic mechanisms and social context using the model organism Drosophila melanogaster.M.Sc