The effect of stress on bee foraging behaviour

应激对蜜蜂觅食行为的影响

• 批准号: 2884607
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Newcastle University
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2023 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2884607
• 关键词: effect; stress; bee; foraging; behaviour

Background: The influence of stress on cognition is a key current consideration for animal welfare in vertebrates, but this has rarely been studied in invertebrates. Understanding similar responses in invertebrates such as bees would have crucial implications for their pollinator services and agriculture. Bumblebees are ideal systems to study these stress responses as they are easily kept in the lab and their cognition and behaviour is well characterized. A handful of previous papers have begun to show evidence of stress-induced cognitive changes in bees and have implicated bioamines such as dopamine in these changes. This project will use an animal welfare approach to investigate bee responses to major natural stressors and the mechanisms underlying these responses.Aims: 1) To characterize how stressors affect the immediate cognitive behaviours during pollination 2) To determine the time course of these effects in relation to the duration and frequency of stress 3) To investigate the neurochemicals underlying the stress response in beesMethodology: We will use behavioural assays called judgement bias tests that evaluate bee responses post-stress to ambiguous sources of reward. These classic tests for welfare have rarely been used with bees, but ongoing work in the PI's lab has used the approach to show cognitive biases in bees. These tests will characterize the time course of the response as well as the effect of stress duration and frequency (Years 1 and 2). Machine-learning based approaches using DeepLabCut, a Python-based open source software, will be used to characterize behaviour including changes in reward consumption and persistence on flowers (Year 2). To understand the mechanisms underlying these changes, work in the second supervisor's lab will investigate changes to the expression of dopamine and serotonin receptors in the brain at the level of both RNA (with qPCRs) and protein (with brain immunostaining and imaging) (Years 3 and 4). Neuropharmacological interventions will also be used to determine how the levels of bioamines such as dopamine and serotonin control the response to stressors over time (Years 2 and 3).Novelty: This project will make important progress for several fields including the neural basis of decision-making, animal welfare and pollinator biology. It addresses fundamental questions in animal welfare that are logistically and ethically more difficult to ask in vertebrates. This study will thus provide vital information in a tractable model system with important implications for pollination and agriculture.Understanding how stress affects pollinator behaviour has important implications for the NLD-DTP themes food security and sustainable agriculture (also BBSRC areas of investment) and understanding the effect of stress on brains and neurochemistry fits the neuroscience theme. Understanding how pesticides impact pollinators fits the BBSRC remit of research into animal models of toxicology, animal health and the welfare of managed animals. Developing bees as a model for animal welfare instead of vertebrates also works towards the replacement aspect of the 3Rs priorities of the BBSRC. Machine-learning based approaches to looking at behaviour also fulfil the remit of data-driven biology.

背景资料：压力对认知的影响是脊椎动物福利的一个关键因素，但这在无脊椎动物中很少被研究。了解蜜蜂等无脊椎动物的类似反应将对其授粉服务和农业产生重要影响。大黄蜂是研究这些压力反应的理想系统，因为它们很容易保存在实验室中，而且它们的认知和行为特征很好。之前的一些论文已经开始显示蜜蜂应激诱导认知变化的证据，并将生物胺如多巴胺与这些变化联系起来。本项目将从动物福利的角度研究蜜蜂对主要自然应激源的反应及其机制，目的：1）描述应激源如何影响授粉过程中的即时认知行为2）确定这些影响与应激持续时间和频率的关系3）研究蜜蜂应激反应的神经化学物质方法：我们将使用被称为判断偏差测试的行为测定法来评估蜜蜂对模糊奖励来源的应激后反应。这些经典的福利测试很少用于蜜蜂，但PI实验室正在进行的工作已经使用这种方法来显示蜜蜂的认知偏见。这些测试将表征反应的时间过程以及应激持续时间和频率的影响（第1年和第2年）。使用基于Python的开源软件DeepLabCut的基于机器学习的方法将用于表征行为，包括奖励消费和花朵持久性的变化（第2年）。为了了解这些变化背后的机制，第二位导师实验室的工作将在RNA（qPCR）和蛋白质（大脑免疫染色和成像）水平上研究大脑中多巴胺和5-羟色胺受体表达的变化（3年级和4年级）。神经药理学干预也将被用来确定生物胺的水平，如多巴胺和血清素控制压力源的反应随着时间的推移（第2年和第3年）。新奇：该项目将取得重要进展的几个领域，包括神经基础的决策，动物福利和传粉生物学。它解决了动物福利的基本问题，这些问题在逻辑上和伦理上更难在脊椎动物中提出。因此，这项研究将提供重要的信息，在一个易于处理的模型系统，具有重要意义的授粉和agricultural.Understanding压力如何影响传粉者的行为具有重要意义的NLD-DTP主题粮食安全和可持续农业（也BBSRC投资领域）和理解压力对大脑和神经化学的影响符合神经科学的主题。了解农药如何影响传粉者符合BBSRC对毒理学，动物健康和管理动物福利的动物模型研究的职权范围。发展蜜蜂作为动物福利的典范，而不是脊椎动物，也有助于替代BBSRC的3R优先事项。基于机器学习的行为研究方法也满足了数据驱动生物学的要求。