Genetische und neuronale Grundlage des duftvermittelten Sozialverhaltens bei Blattschneiderameisen

在我们的串联项目中，我们首先建立了各种分子技术，以综合的方法研究切叶蚁的嗅觉。我们使用总触角RNA进行转录组分析，随后进行微阵列分析，以研究切叶蚁Atta vollenweideri不同种姓和亚种姓的差异基因表达。我们的目的是识别信息素受体编码基因，基于表达水平的差异，这可能与先前描述的触角叶的神经解剖学表型有关。此外，我们做了GO分析，目前我们正在运行qpcr来确认我们的Microarray研究结果。我们一共发现了三个or编码候选基因，一个在工蚁中，可能与工蚁大肾小球有关，两个在雄性中，可能与三个雄性大肾小球中的两个有关。候选基因的功能分析正在等待，并将在当前资助期的剩余下半年进行。在即将到来的资助期内，我们的申请旨在继续已启动的项目，并将其扩展到对雄性信息素通信系统的详细功能分析。我们将鉴定出膜翅目昆虫中第一个性信息素受体基因。此外，我们将研究小切叶蚁和大切叶蚁触角叶内的连通性，并分析替代连接的功能后果，以揭示嗅觉通路内大脑小型化的机制。最后，我们将开发一种病毒传递系统，使我们能够沉默蚂蚁嗅觉相关基因的基因表达。这将是嗅觉系统功能丧失测试的重要贡献。

In our tandem project, we first established various molecular techniques to study olfaction in leafcutting ants in an integrative approach. We used the total antennal RNA for a transcriptome analysis and subsequently performed a Microarray analysis to investigate differential gene expression in different castes and sub-castes of the leaf-cutting ant Atta vollenweideri. Our aim was to identify pheromone receptor coding genes, based on differences in expression levels, which are expected to be related to previously described neuroanatomical phenotypes of the antennal lobes. In addition, we did a GO analysis and currently we run qPCRs to confirm our findings of the Microarray study. We found a total of three OR-coding gene candidates, one in workers, which is probably related to the worker macroglomerulus {MG}, and two in males, which are probably related to two of the three male MGs. Functional analysis of the candidate genes is pending and will be performed in the remaining second half of the current funding period.For the upcoming funding period, our application aims to continue the started project and extend it to a detailed functional analysis of the male pheromone communication system. We will identify the first sex-pheromone receptor gene in Hymenoptera. Furthermore, we will investigate the connectivity within the antennal lobe of small and large leaf-cutting ant workers and we will analyze the functional consequences of alternative connectivity in order to unravel the mechanisms of brain miniaturization within the olfactory pathway. Finally, we will develop a virus delivery system that allows us to silence gene expression of olfaction related genes in ants. This will be an important contribution for loss-of-function tests within the olfactory system.