DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Stay Cool: Connecting the Proximate Physiological Mechanisms to the Performance and Variation of Thermoregulatory Behavior in Apis mellifera l.

社会的一个决定性特征是其成员有效执行任务的能力。许多建议的机制，这些任务的执行集中在工作，可以由许多人独立工作完成，但是，大多数研究忽略了那些工作，需要个人之间的协调，以有效地执行任务。工蜂的体温调节扇风行为需要这种协调。在这项研究中，研究人员正在探索蜜蜂如何相互协调，以最有效地冷却蜂巢。研究人员认为，更多地了解扇风行为可以让科学界和公众为全球气候变化如何影响蜜蜂种群做好准备。该项目的结果将有助于通过提供对行为的直接生理机制的洞察来理解社会如何运作。探索这些机制不仅可以澄清社会行为是如何进行的，而且还可以在未来对不同分类群的社会行为进行进化比较。作为一种模式生物，蜜蜂是一种令人难以置信的研究工具，因为它们是最具代表性的真社会性的例子，它们提供了一种强有力的方法来参与科学推广。美国农业部和科罗拉多大学之间拟议的合作将允许学术界和政府之间的互动。此外，还将通过为小学生开设的科学探索养蜂课程继续开展外联活动。最后，该项目还与丹佛救援使命开展了外联互动，将这一工作扩大到学术界以外的高风险康复成瘾者群体。这项研究揭示了几个有趣的组成部分，扇风行为还没有被探讨的背景下，劳动分工的蜜蜂。可观察到的行为反应是由生物体内协调的化学反应引起的，这些化学反应涉及神经元及其相关的化学信号，这些化学信号通常是生物胺。四种生物胺在蜜蜂的劳动分工中起着重要的作用。研究人员假设，扇风行为是由生物胺调节的，扇风行为是由这四种生物胺之一的变化引起的。研究人员将分析蜜蜂在发育过程中的行为数据，包括与多个个体的相关相互作用，以及注射生物胺后的行为数据。对于生物胺分析，研究人员将从蜂箱中收集蜜蜂，或者在它们接受加热制度行为测定后收集蜜蜂。蜜蜂将在液氮中速冻并解剖。将使用HPLC分析在蜂巢处进行扇风的个体与未进行扇风的个体之间表征生物胺浓度，以分离任务组对生物胺浓度的影响。通过量化所有四种生物胺的浓度，研究人员将能够确定哪一种在扇风的启动和性能中发挥最重要的作用。结果发表后，将使用在线化学数据库（如ChemSpider（http：//www.chemspider.com/））共享处理后的HPLC数据。

A defining characteristic of societies is the ability of their members to perform tasks efficiently. Many proposed mechanisms by which these tasks are performed focus on jobs that can be accomplished by many individuals working independently; however, most research neglects those jobs that require coordination among individuals to effectively execute the task. Thermoregulatory fanning behavior in worker honeybees requires that coordination. In this study, researchers are exploring how honeybees coordinate with each other to most effectively cool their hive. The researchers believe that understanding more about fanning behavior allows the science community and public to prepare for how global climate change could affect honeybee populations in the future. Results from this project will contribute to the understanding of how societies function by providing insight into the immediate physiological mechanisms of behavior. Exploring these mechanisms will not only clarify how social behaviors are performed, but will also allow for future evolutionary comparisons of social behavior across taxa. As a model organism, honeybees are an incredible research tool, as they are the most well characterized example of eusociality, and they provide a powerful method by which to engage in science outreach. The proposed collaboration between the USDA and the University of Colorado will allow for interaction between academia and government. In addition, outreach will continue through an established beekeeping course for elementary-aged students with Science Discovery. Finally, this project has initiated an outreach interaction with the Denver Rescue Mission that expands this work outside of academia to a high-risk group of recovering addicts. This research has uncovered several interesting components to fanning behavior that have not been explored in the context of division of labor in honeybees. Observable behavioral responses are caused by coordinated chemical reactions within the organism that involve neurons and their associated chemical signals, which are often biogenic amines. Four biogenic amines been identified as playing a significant role in the honeybee division of labor. The researchers hypothesize that fanning behavior is regulated by biogenic amines, and that fanning behavior is induced by a change in one of these four biogenic amines. Researchers will analyze behavioral data on the honey bee fanning response during development, including associated interactions with multiple individuals, as well as after injection with biogenic amines. For the biogenic amines analysis, the researchers will either be collecting honeybees from the hive or after they have been subjected to a heating regime behavioral assay. The honeybees will be snap-frozen in liquid nitrogen and dissected. Biogenic amine concentrations will be characterized using HPLC analyses between those individuals that are performing fanning at the hive and those that are not fanning to isolate the effects of task group on biogenic amine concentrations. By quantifying concentrations of all four biogenic amines, the researchers will be able to identify which one(s) is playing the most significant role in the initiation and performance of fanning. Following publication of results, processed HPLC data will be shared using online chemical databases, such as ChemSpider (http://www.chemspider.com/).