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: 2022
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2022-01-01 至 2023-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=745913
• 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.

我的昆虫社会生物学研究项目整合了基因组学和亲属理论，以揭示真社会行为的遗传基础。我的研究基本原理很简单：50年来，亲属理论为真社会性提供了一个基于基因的解释，但总的来说，我们还没有确定涉及的基因。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确定一个典型的真社会特征的基因：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个明确的桥梁。这种渐进的分子分析-从基因理论到基因筛选再到基因网络-极大地扩展了社会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。 我以前的DG使我和我的学生能够利用第二个更易处理的昆虫模型，补充我们从蜜蜂身上的发现。果蝇不是真社会性的，因此没有不育的种姓，但我的实验室发现，蜂王信息素的应用可以促使雌性果蝇进入一种类似工蜂的不育状态。蜜蜂衍生的化学线索诱导非真社会性昆虫功能性不育的潜力是显着的，并为我目前的资助铺平了令人兴奋的实验途径。我们的研究结果表明，这种假的社会反应从苍蝇是同源的刻板反应蜜蜂和介导的基因座的遗传变异参与信息素的感知和卵巢失活。在这项研究中，我充分利用果蝇突变体和转基因品系，揭示哪些基因座超出了确定的几个实际上调节女性'不育'的卵巢抑制信号的反应。这种利用果蝇模型来揭示蜜蜂遗传秘密的创新方法正在世界各地的实验室中流行，也引起了媒体的兴趣！最后，我之前的DG使我的实验室能够将我们与蜜蜂相关的发现与另一种真正的社会性昆虫进行比较，这种昆虫与任何Hyplutera（蜜蜂，蚂蚁，黄蜂）都有根本的不同。白蚁与蟑螂有关，是最古老的真社会性类群，但很少被用作真社会性基因发现的载体。我们对白蚁基因组的分析提供了一个急需的对比点，对更好地研究了单倍-二倍体真社会性Hyplutera和我们的工作，从而有助于填补这一空白，并揭示如何共同或不同的基因和基因组模式，伴随并可能驱动真社会性进化在不同的昆虫类群。事实上，随着社会生物学领域的不断成熟，社会生活的一般和综合理论，我的三种模式的研究计划是很好的定位，成长和发展沿着它-它是理想的培养学生在分子技术和亲属理论的应用，以及从事养蜂业和害虫控制行业。