Ecology of heat-shock protein expression in honey bees: effects of age, behavior, and tissue heterothermia

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Ecology of heat-shock protein expression in honey bees: effects of age, behavior, and tissue heterothermiaMichelle M. Elekonich and Stephen P. RobertsUniversity of Nevada Las VegasMany behavioral life history transitions occur typically only once and during the adult stage of an organism as it moves into a new environment or changes a life history tactic. Such transitions are common in nature and include the age-related switch from nest/hive work to foraging in social insects such as the honey bee. Although the literature on expression of heat-shock or stress proteins (Hsps) is vast, one of the unanswered questions is how often and to what extent Hsps are expressed across the lifespan of a terrestrial animal in nature. The proposed research will provide important insight into how age, gene expression and functional capacity interact with behavior, particularly foraging, in a complex social species. It will provide the first measures of the cellular cost of a behavior and some of the first measures of actual stress encountered over the lifetime of a mobile terrestrial animal in its natural environment. This award will support the professional development of a postdoctoral researcher, and a new female scientist at the earliest stages of her career.