Associate Professor
Ph.D., Columbia University, 1995

Learning; memory; genetics; behavior

email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , phone (516) 367-6999, fax (516) 367-8880

Behavioral properties and cellular mechanisms of memory are highly similar across animal phyla.  This means that many features of memory can be studied in simple organisms that are easy to manipulate.  The immensely powerful genetic techniques that are feasible in fruit flies make for an ideal "model system" to study this problem.  Work in the Dubnau lab consists of three main strategies:

The first is to identify genetic pathways involved in Pavlovian learning. We have identified a role for sub-cellular transport of mRNAs and the local control of their translation.  Several components of this pathway are implicated in human cognitive disorders.  A second area of investigation focuses on dissecting neural circuits involved in memory.  Cell-type specific genetic manipulations have allowed us to determine sites of action of individual gene products and also to reversibly silence neuro-transmission in behaving animals.  We have demonstrated that two distinct memory traces are established in parallel circuits, using distinct signaling pathways.  Finally, we have developed a novel strategy to identify networks of gene interaction that underlie variation in complex phenotypes such as memory.   We have used selective breeding to 'evolve' genotypes capable of bypassing the learning defect of a mutation in the cAMP pathway.  The underlying gene networks can be accessed by high-throughput genomics approaches. Results from this project have implications for our understanding of genetic variation in the clinical severity of Mendelian genetic disorders.

Please visit Josh's Lab home page.

Selected Publications

Qin, H., and Dubnau, J. 2010. Genetic dissection of extinction learning in Drosophila. Genes Brain Behav. 9: 203–212.

Blum, A., Li, W., Cressy, M., and Dubnau, J. 2009. Short- and long-term memory in Drosophila require cAMP signaling in distinct neuron types. Curr. Biol. 19: 1341–1350.

Chen, G., Li, W., Zhang, Q.S., Regulski, M., Sinha, N., Barditch, J., Tully, T., Krainer, A., Zhang, M., and Dubnau, J. 2008. Identification of synaptic targets of Drosophila pumilio. PLoS Comput. Biol. 4: e1000026.

Dubnau, J., Chiang, A.S., Grady, L., Barditch, J., Gossweiler, S., McNeil, J., Smith, P., Buldoc, F., Scott, R., Certa, U., Broger, C., and Tully. T. 2003. The staufen/pumilio pathway is involved in Drosophila long-term memory. Curr. Biol. 13: 286.
 
Dubnau, J., Grady, L., Kitamoto, T., Tully, T.  2001. Disruption of neurotransmission in Drosophila mushroom body blocks retrieval but not acquisition of memory. Nature 411: 476–80.