Morphological analysis of the subexpression of trpgamma gene in Drosophila melanogaster

Abstract

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a developmental neuropsychiatric condition that has proven increasingly prevalence in the world population. This is probably due to improvement in the diagnosis efficiency, since, currently, the population has become awareness about this disorder. ASD has evident contribution of genetic factors to the clinical picture, but its etiology is quite complex. Although a considerable number of individuals are affected by ASD, the function performed by most of the associated genes has not yet been elucidated, as well as its possible links to the behavioral changes. In this project, we will use Drosophila melanogaster as a biological model to perform a study concerning genes previously associated with ASD by our group. (AU)