Neural Mechanisms of Hygienic Behavior in the Honey Bee

这个项目的长期目标是了解一个物种内相对较小的遗传差异是如何转化为行为上的显著差异的，这些差异是基于神经回路的“连接”方式，而不是神经激素如何不同地改变类似神经回路的功能。为卫生行为而培育的蜜蜂将被研究，并与表现出较不卫生行为的未选择蜜蜂进行比较。卫生的蜜蜂比不卫生的蜜蜂更容易发现并将患病和被寄生的幼虫从巢中取出。蜜蜂行业对蜜蜂的卫生线非常感兴趣，因为它们对疾病和寄生螨有更强的抵抗力。然而，更重要的是，这项研究将有助于更好地理解一类化合物，即生物胺，是如何导致人类行为改变的。生物胺包括血清素、多巴胺和肾上腺素相关物质。这些神经活性物质对人类情绪障碍、学习和记忆以及包括帕金森病在内的许多疾病至关重要。这项研究的一个中心假设是，章鱼胺是一种与去甲肾上腺素相关的神经激素，它有助于形成卫生蜜蜂和不卫生蜜蜂之间的行为差异。与不卫生的蜜蜂相比，卫生的蜜蜂有更高的嗅觉敏感性和对患病幼虫的反应能力。从本质上说，卫生行为背后的神经网络是“多态的”，因此可以转移或偏向于一种模式，在这种模式下，卫生行为表达或多或少容易被激活。从理论上讲，如果章鱼胺（或多巴胺）对共享的多态神经网络有不同的调节，动物物种之间相对较小的遗传差异可能会转化为不成比例的巨大行为差异。具体目的如下：1)确定卫生行为表达与蜜蜂其他重要行为之间的关系；2)检测卫生和非卫生蜜蜂的嗅觉敏感性，以及嗅觉在卫生行为表达中的作用；3)确定章鱼胺和多巴胺在卫生行为表达中的作用。

Neural mechanisms of hygienic behavior in the honeybeeLay SummaryMarla SpivakKaren A. MesceThe long-term goal of this project is to understand how relatively small genetic differences within a species translate into significant differences in behavior that are based on how neural circuits are 'wired up' versus how neurohormones differentially modify the functioning of similar neural circuits. Honey bees bred for hygienic behavior will be studied and compared to unselected bees that exhibit less hygienic behavior. Hygienic bees detect and remove diseased and parasitized brood from their nest more readily than non-hygienic bees. The honey bee industry is keenly interested in hygienic lines of bees because they are more resistant to diseases and parasitic mites. More significant, however, is the potential that this study will contribute to a better understanding of how a class of compounds, the biogenic amines, contributes to behavioral alterations in humans. The biogenic amines include serotonin, dopamine, and adrenaline-related substances. These neuroactive substances are critically important to human mood disorders, learning and memory, and numerous diseases including Parkinson's disease. A central hypothesis of this study is that octopamine, a neurohormone related to noradrenaline, contributes to the shaping of the behavioral differences between hygienic and non-hygienic bees. Hygienic bees have increased olfactory sensitivity and responsiveness to diseased brood compared to non-hygienic bees. In essence, it is proposed that neural networks underlying hygienic behavior are 'polymorphic' and thus can be shifted or biased into a mode in which hygienic behavioral expression is activated more or less easily. It is theorized that relatively small genetic differences among animal species may translate into disproportionately large differences in behavior if shared polymorphic neural networks are differentially regulated by octopamine (or dopamine). The specific aims are as follows: 1) determine the relationship between the expression of hygienic behavior and other important honey bee behaviors; 2) Examine the olfactory sensitivity of hygienic and non-hygienic bees, and the role of olfaction in the expression of hygienic behavior; 3) Determine the role of octopamine and dopamine in the expression of hygienic behavior.