Molecular correlates of memory phases and development of molecular tools to modify brain physiology in the honeybee.

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In a previous study in the honeybee, Apis mellifera, we showed that the inhibition of the NR1 subunit of the NMDA glutamate receptor by RNA interference impairs early memory phases but leaves intact a late memory phase. This result is surprising because other studies show that the receptor is required during learning for the development of all memory phases. The inhibition induced by RNA interference was of moderate amplitude and it was limited in time and space. One goal of the project is to evaluate if these limitations explain the lack of effect on the late memory phase. However, other factors might be important for this memory phase. The target of rapamycin, the eukaryotic elongation factor 2 and voltage-gated calcium channels are possible candidates that will be considered in this project. There is evidence of an inhibitory neurotransmission mediated by glutamate chloride channels. We have shown by inducing RNA interference against the GluClα subunit that these channels of the mushroom body region are important for the retrieval of olfactory memory. Another goal of the project is to evaluate the role of antennal lobe channels in olfaction and in olfactory memory.