Individual life history adaptation in the social context of the honey bee colony

蜜蜂生活在高度整合的群体中，在进化上是成功的，并与许多生态系统相关。它们复杂的社会组织深刻地影响着个体行为和生活史的演变。在这种背景下，大多数研究都集中在社会昆虫的特质，如种姓和劳动分工。相比之下，对更一般的生活史变量的社会进化知之甚少，如个体的体型，鸡蛋的大小和寿命。我计划研究这三个变量，以填补我们对生命史和社会进化的理解中的这一关键空白。我对这些复杂表型的机制和后果的研究有助于我全面了解蜜蜂生活史进化的长期目标。在接下来的5年里，我将与我的HQP一起努力实现以下3个短期目标：1。工蜂体型变化的调查：体型是生命的一个基本变量，我计划对不同工蜂体型的实验诱导和自然进化的发育机制进行转录组学比较。我们还将探讨实验工人的大小变化如何影响个人的行为和生活史，以及这些个人的后果如何改变殖民地的表现。2.了解蜜蜂卵大小变化的原因和后果：基于我们的发现，蜂王会主动调节卵的大小以应对蜂群大小，我计划澄清这种塑料策略的自然背景，并研究蜂群大小是如何被感知的。此外，我们将调查鸡蛋大小的差异是否与供应的质量差异，并确定鸡蛋大小的变化对后代的发育和生存的后果。3.解剖蜜蜂的繁殖和长寿之间的正相关关系：为了进一步了解蜜蜂的繁殖和长寿之间的特殊关系，我提出了生殖激活和氧化应激的转录组模式的组织特异性分析，以及氧化损伤的措施。此外，我们将测试单个候选基因敲除对寿命、抗应激性和转录组模式的影响。拟议的研究将阐明个人生活史如何在社会背景下演变。关于确定身体大小、卵大小和寿命的比较数据将有助于我们对生物体如何繁殖、生长和衰老的一般理解。了解蜜蜂的基本生物学也很有影响力，因为它们是重要的科学模型和授粉者。我们的研究是应用研究的基础，以提高养蜂，农业和粮食安全的可持续性。这项研究转化为许多可转移的技能，我明确的EDI努力也使我的计划对培养成功的，多样化的未来科学家和公民具有重要意义。

Honey bees live in highly integrated colonies, are evolutionarily successful, and relevant in many ecosystems. Their complex social organization profoundly impacts the evolution of individual behaviour and life history. In this context, most studies have focused on the idiosyncrasies of social insects, such as castes and division of labour. In contrast, little is known about the social evolution of more general life history variables, such as individual body size, egg size, and lifespan. I plan to investigate these 3 variables to fill this critical gap in our understanding of life history and social evolution. My studies of the mechanisms and consequences of these complex phenotypes contribute to my long-term goal of gaining a comprehensive understanding of honey bee life history evolution. Over the next 5 years, I will work together with my HQP on the following 3 short-term objectives: 1. Investigation of body size variation in worker honey bees: Body size is a fundamental variable of life and I plan transcriptomic comparisons between experimentally induced and naturally evolved developmental mechanisms of different worker sizes. We will also explore how experimental worker size variation impacts individual behaviour and life history and how these individual consequences change colony performance. 2. Understand causes and consequences of egg size variation in honey bees: Based on our discovery that queens actively regulate the size of their eggs in response to colony size, I plan to clarify the natural context of this plastic strategy and study how colony size is perceived. Furthermore, we will investigate whether egg size differences are associated with qualitative differences in provisioning and identify the consequences of egg size variation for offspring development and survival. 3. Dissecting the positive relation between reproduction and longevity in honey bees: To further our understanding of the exceptional relation between reproduction and longevity in honey bees, I propose tissue-specific analyses of transcriptome patterns of reproductive activation and oxidative stress, as well as measures of oxidative damage. Additionally, we will test the effect of single candidate gene knockdowns on lifespan, stress resistance, and transcriptome patterns. The proposed studies will clarify how individual life histories evolve in a social context. Comparative data on the determination of body size, egg size, and longevity will help our general understanding of how organisms reproduce, grow, and age. Understanding the basic biology of honey bees is also impactful because they are important scientific models and pollinators. Our studies are a foundation for applied research to improve the sustainability of beekeeping, agriculture, and food security. This research translates into many transferrable skills and my explicit EDI efforts also make my program significant for training of a successful, diverse generation of future scientists and citizens.