Dissertation Research: The Regulation of Social Foraging in the Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)

蜜蜂是世界上最重要的商业传粉者。这些非常成功的群居昆虫对全球农业至关重要，并被广泛用于研究社会行为的进化。这个项目将研究蜜蜂的社会觅食(食物收集)行为，这种行为可以增加我们对进化的理解，并对全球经济至关重要。蜜蜂有与年龄相关的劳动分工。幼蜂在蜂巢内执行任务，而年长的工蜂离开蜂巢去觅食。作为觅食者，蜜蜂经常偏向于采集花粉(蛋白质)或花蜜(碳水化合物)。蜜蜂开始觅食的年龄和偏向花蜜或花粉的程度受到卵黄原蛋白的影响，卵黄蛋白原通常用于昆虫产卵。卵黄蛋白原的实验性减少(击倒)导致商业蜜蜂种群在更年轻的年龄觅食，并收集更多的花蜜。然而，目前还不清楚卵黄蛋白原如何影响蜜蜂的行为。这个项目将重点放在与卵黄蛋白原和行为相关的激素网络上，以发展对蜜蜂觅食行为的更完整的理解。我们将使用研究种群(菌株)之间的受控配对，这些研究种群(菌株)对卵黄蛋白原基因敲除的行为和荷尔蒙反应不同，以创建遗传图谱。这张图谱将把荷尔蒙水平的变化与蜜蜂基因组的区域联系起来，并确定将荷尔蒙水平和卵黄蛋白原联系起来的候选基因。为了制作地图，我们将使用高通量测序技术。该项目将产生有关授粉行为相关基因的有价值的信息，并将培训本科生基本实验室技术以及激素测量和基因组图谱。该项目还将为一名博士生提供宝贵的管理和指导培训，该博士生将担任联合首席调查员。

Honey bees are the most important commercial pollinators in the world. These tremendously successful social insects are essential to global agriculture and are used extensively to study the evolution of social behavior. This project will investigate the social foraging (food-collecting) behavior of honey bees, behavior that can add to our understanding of evolution and is central to the global economy. Honey bees have an age associated division of labor. Young bees perform tasks inside the colony, while older workers leave the nest to forage. As foragers, bees often bias their food-collecting toward pollen (protein) or nectar (carbohydrate). The age when bees begin to forage, and the extent of bias toward nectar or pollen are affected by vitellogenin, a protein that usually is used in insect egg-production. Experimental reduction (knockdown) of vitellogenin causes commercial honey bee stocks to forage at younger ages and to collect more nectar. However, it is not understood how vitellogenin affects honey bee behavior. This project will focus on a hormone network linked to vitellogenin and behavior to develop a more complete understanding of honey bee foraging behavior. We will use controlled matings between research stocks (strains) that vary in their behavioral and hormonal response to vitellogenin knockdown to create a genetic map. This map will link variation in hormone levels to regions of the honey bee genome, and identify candidate genes that link hormone levels and vitellogenin. To make the map, we will use high throughput sequencing technology. This project will generate valuable information on pollination behavior related genes and will train undergraduate students in basic laboratory techniques as well as in hormone measurements and genome mapping. The project will also provide valuable management and mentoring training for a PhD student, who will be the co-principal investigator.