Genetic, Developmental, and Environmental Determinants of Honey Bee Foraging Behavior

97-28608觅食蜜蜂的遗传、发育和环境决定因素非技术概述蜜蜂群体通常由一只蜂王和数千只非生殖工蜂组成。工蚁表现出对行为任务的分工，从而导致群体的生存、维持和繁殖。最有趣的例子之一是巢内育苗、做蜡梳、加工蜂蜜等工种与巢外觅食工种的分工。这种任务分工通常与工人的年龄有关。一些觅食者专门采集花蜜，而另一些则只采集花粉。蜂群必须对环境中不断变化的条件做出反应，比如食物的可获得性，它们必须对蜂群需求的变化做出反应，比如为不断增长的蜂群提供食物所需的花粉蛋白质的数量。基因构成也很重要。具有某些遗传结构的蜜蜂比具有不同基因的个体更有可能在一组特定的环境条件下寻找花粉。在先前研究的基础上，该项目将使用分子遗传学方法来研究已识别的基因对觅食专业化的影响，并全面研究这些基因的影响是如何与发育(年龄)效应和环境条件相互作用的。

97-28608 Genetic, Developmental and Environmental Determinants of Honey Bee Foraging R. E. Page, Jr. Non-Technical Summary Honeybee colonies are normally composed of a queen and thousands of non-reproductive workers. The workers demonstrate a division of labor for behavioral tasks resulting in the survival, maintenance, and reproduction of the colony. One of the most interesting examples is the division of labor between workers inside the nest raising brood, constructing wax comb, processing honey, etc. and those that forage outside the nest. This division of tasks is often related to a worker's age. Some foragers specialize further in collecting nectar and others in collecting only pollen. Honeybee colonies must respond to changing conditions in the environment, such as the availability of food, and they must respond to changes in colony needs, such as the amount of pollen protein needed to feed a growing colony. Genetic make up is also important. Bees with some genetic constitutions are more likely to forage for pollen under a specific set of environmental conditions than are individuals of a different genotype. Building on previous research, this project will employ molecular genetic methodology to examine the influence of identified genes on foraging specialization, and to comprehensively examine how the influences of these genes interact with developmental (age) effects and environmental conditions.