Genetic basis of social behavior in honey bee and other insect models

蜜蜂和其他昆虫模型社会行为的遗传基础

• 批准号: RGPIN-2020-05647
• 负责人: Thompson, Graham
• 金额: $ 3.64万
• 依托单位: University of Western Ontario
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2020-01-01 至 2021-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=717784
• 关键词: Genetic; basis; social; behavior; honey

My research program in insect sociobiology integrates genomics and kin theory to reveal the genetic basis of eusocial behavior. My research rationale is straightforward: for 50 years kin theory has provided a gene-based explanation for eusociality, but by and large we have yet to identify the genes involved. Over the past five years, my students and I have employed advanced molecular and computational approaches to pinpoint the genes that underlie one quintessentially eusocial trait: reproductive altruism in worker honeybees. We have now begun to show how gene action is coordinated at a systems level and our work thus provides a clear bridge between theory and discovery. This progressive molecular analysis from gene theory to gene screen to gene network vastly expands the traditional scope of social insect molecular biology and now forms the working theme for my research program. My previous DG has enabled my students and I to exploit a second, more tractable insect model that complements our findings from the honeybee. Drosophila is not eusocial and thus has no sterile caste, but my lab discovered that application of the queen bee pheromone can prompt female flies into a state of worker-like sterility. The potential of a bee-derived chemical cue to induce functional sterility in a non-eusocial insect is remarkable and paves an exciting experimental avenue for my current grant. Our findings suggest that this pseudo-social response from flies is homologous to the stereotypical response from honeybees and mediated by genetic variation at loci involved in pheromone perception and ovary de-activation. In this grant, I make full use of Drosophila mutant and transgenic lines to reveal which loci beyond the identified few actually regulate female 'sterility' in response to ovary-inhibiting signal. This innovative use of a Drosophila model to uncover genetic secrets of the honeybee is catching on in labs around the world and has garnered media interest, too! Finally, my previous DG enabled my lab to compare our bee-related findings against another eusocial insect that is fundamentally different from any Hymenoptera (bees, ants, wasps). Termites are related to cockroaches and make up the oldest eusocial taxa yet are rarely used as vehicles for eusocial gene discovery. Our analyses of termite genomes provide a much-needed point of contrast against the better studied haplo-diploid eusocial Hymenoptera and our work thus helps to fill this gap and reveal how common or different are the genes and genomic patterns that accompany and potentially drive eusocial evolution in different insect taxa. Indeed, as the field of sociobiology continues to mature towards a general and integrated theory of social life, my three-model research program is well-positioned to grow and develop along with it it is ideal for training students in molecular technique and application of kin theory, as well as engages the apicultural and pest control sectors of industry.

我的研究方向是昆虫社会生物学，将基因组学和亲缘理论结合起来，揭示社会行为的遗传基础。我的研究理由很简单：50年来，亲缘理论为社会性提供了一种基于基因的解释，但总的来说，我们还没有确定相关的基因。在过去的五年里，我和我的学生们采用了先进的分子和计算方法来精确定位一个典型的社会特征的基因：工蜂的生殖利他主义。我们现在已经开始展示基因作用是如何在系统水平上协调的，因此我们的工作在理论和发现之间提供了一座清晰的桥梁。这种从基因理论到基因筛选再到基因网络的渐进分子分析，极大地扩展了社会性昆虫分子生物学的传统范围，现在形成了我的研究计划的工作主题。