GENOMIC MAP OF HONEY BEE FORAGING BEHAVIOR

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Honey bee (Apis mellifera) colonies display a remarkable division of labor that is based on the genotypes of individual workers bees, their stages of behavioral development (or age), and their environment. The behavioral acts (tasks) that are performed by honey bee workers are stereotypic, well known, and have been categorized into distinguishable sets. The last set of tasks performed by a worker bee is that of foraging where she will often specialize on collecting either pollen or nectar. However, many bees become generalists and perform both tasks, collecting both pollen and nectar. Previous studies have demonstrated the effects of two major genes on foraging task "decisions" of honey bees. These major quantitative trait loci (QTL) were mapped and verified using DNA markers on a relatively small population of 38 colonies. As a consequence, genes with smaller effects on behavior were probably not detected, and the map locations of the mapped loci are imprecise. The research proposed here will result in a more complete, and usable genomic map of honey bee foraging behavior, and a better understanding of the action of genes on behavior. The specific aims are: 1) to complete a genomic map of foraging behavior on 159 colonies; 2) to verify any new QTLs that are mapped; 3) to merge the new map with the original one in order to "saturate" mapped genomic regions with more markers so that QTL map locations can be determined with greater precision; 4) to produce better, more specific, DNA markers in those regions that contain mapped QTLs; 5) to study mechanisms of gene action of individual, mapped quantitative trait loci. Many of the behavioral questions asked of honey bees regarding the effects of genes, development, and environment on behavior are remarkably similar to questions about the dimensions of normal human behavior and behavioral disorders. The honey bee offers many advantages for general behavioral studies of gene action, development, and environment. 1) It can be selectively bred. 2) It has distinct developmental stages associated with behavior and these developmental stages can be manipulated. 3) Stimuli associated with specific behavior are well known and easily manipulated. 4) It has a high rate of meiotic recombination that facilitates mapping and the eventual isolation and characterization of major genes affecting observed, variable behavior. The additional characteristics that honey bees are social and can be studied in a natural context make them plausible surrogate models for studies of individual and social behavior.