Hsp70 is a molecular chaperone that functions to protect cells and organisms from stress. We are studying the effects of Hsp70 on locomotor performance and small-Hsp gene expression in four strains of Drosophila melanogaster that vary in the number of hsp70 genes in their genomes – zero, three, six (wild-type), and twelve. We expose the flies to external stresses (heat and starvation) and also an "internal", genetic stress - polyglutamine expression. Next we digitally record the flies walking in a custom performance arena. We analyze numerous aspects of the flies’ performance, including speed, straightness, and stopping frequency, and compare to flies which do not undergo stress. Our results indicate that (1) pre-exposure to thermal stress in the hsp70-null flies induces compensatory gene expression that is uncoupled from Hsp70 and provides some measure of stress tolerance, (2) hsp70 copy number has strong effects on the expression of numerous stress-response genes, and (3) starvation stress is protective only in extra-hsp70 flies. Very recent results demonstrate that polyglutamine expression in adult motorneurons strongly impacts locomotion speed and steadiness, and that Hsp70 suppresses these phenotypes. Last, we recently began a study of natural variation in stressed locomotor performance, to determine the impact of these results in real populations of wildtype individuals. Our goal is to determine which genes best protect performance from stress.

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