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

论文研究：保持冷静：将直接生理机制与蜜蜂体温调节行为的表现和变化联系起来。

• 批准号: 1406773
• 负责人: Michael Breed
• 金额: $ 1.69万
• 依托单位: University of Colorado at Boulder
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2014-08-01 至 2017-04-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1406773&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: DISSERTATION; RESEARCH; Stay; Cool; Connecting

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/).

社会的一个决定性特征是其成员有效执行任务的能力。许多已提出的执行这些任务的机制关注的是可以由许多人独立完成的工作；然而，大多数研究忽略了那些需要个人之间协调才能有效执行任务的工作。工蜂的温度调节扇动行为需要这种协调。在这项研究中，研究人员正在探索蜜蜂如何相互协调，以最有效地冷却它们的蜂箱。研究人员认为，更多地了解养蜂行为，可以让科学界和公众为全球气候变化未来可能如何影响蜜蜂种群做好准备。这个项目的结果将有助于通过洞察行为的直接生理机制来理解社会是如何运作的。探索这些机制不仅将澄清社会行为是如何执行的，而且还将允许未来对不同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共生生物，它们提供了一种从事科学推广的强大方法。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，还将通过为具有科学发现能力的小学生开设的养蜂课程继续开展推广活动。最后，该项目启动了与丹佛救援团的外展互动，将这项工作扩展到学术界以外的高风险康复成瘾者群体。这项研究揭示了蜜蜂扇风行为的几个有趣的组成部分，这些因素在蜜蜂的分工背景下还没有被探索过。可观察到的行为反应是由有机体内涉及神经元及其相关化学信号的协调化学反应引起的，这些化学信号通常是生物胺。四种生物胺被确定在蜜蜂的劳动分工中发挥重要作用。研究人员假设，风扇行为是由生物胺调节的，而风扇行为是由这四种生物胺中的一种改变引起的。研究人员将分析发育期间蜜蜂扇动反应的行为数据，包括与多个个体的相关互动，以及注射生物胺后的行为数据。对于生物胺分析，研究人员要么从蜂箱中收集蜜蜂，要么在它们接受加热制度行为测试后收集蜜蜂。这些蜜蜂将被迅速冷冻在液氮中并进行解剖。生物胺浓度将使用高效液相分析在那些在蜂箱进行扇形操作的个体和那些没有进行扇形操作的个体之间进行表征，以隔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(S)在风扇的启动和执行中起着最重要的作用。在结果公布后，处理后的高效液相数据将使用在线化学数据库共享，如ChemSpider(http://www.chemspider.com/).