Identification and analysis of genes involved in the intrinsic behaviors of the social insect (the honey bee)

蜜蜂是一种群居昆虫，工蜂可以通过舞蹈语言与其他工蜂交流，舞蹈语言包含了食物来源的方向和距离的信息。在蜜蜂的大脑中，对昆虫大脑的感觉整合、学习和记忆至关重要的蘑菇体非常发达，组成蘑菇体的内在神经元(Kenyon细胞)被分为两个亚种：大的和小的类型-Kenyon细胞。我们以前发现了两个在大小类型的Kenyon细胞中优先表达的基因(Mblk-1和Ks-1基因)，它们是参与蜜蜂高度高级行为的候选基因。在这项研究中，我们分离并鉴定了Mblk-1和Ks-1基因的cDNA，我们发现Mblk-1基因编码一种新的转录因子，表明该蛋白实际上具有反式激活活性。这是第一个转录因子优先表达…的实例。更确切地说，在昆虫大脑的蘑菇体中，这将是了解昆虫大脑功能的分子基础的重要线索。在线虫和小鼠中也发现了Mblk-1同源物，这表明Mblk-1的功能在各种动物中是保守的。相反，Ks-1基因的cDNA在小型Kenyon细胞中优先表达，没有明显的ORF，Ks-1转录本点状定位于小型Kenyon细胞的细胞核中。这些结果表明，Ks-1转录本作为一种不可翻译的核RNA来调节蜜蜂神经元的功能。此外，Q7和QM1基因在蜂王的大脑中优先表达，Agg-1和Agg-2基因在攻击性蜜蜂的大脑中优先表达，这是参与蜜蜂高级行为的候选基因。较少

The honey bee is a social insect and the workers can communicate with other workers by dance language that contains information both on the direction and distance of the food source. In the honey bee brain, the mushroom bodies which are important for sensory integration, learning and memory in the insect brain, are characteristically well-developed and the intrinsic neuron (Kenyon cells) that constitute the mushroom bodies are classified into two subspecies : the large and small type-Kenyon cells. We previously identified two genes expressed preferentially in the large and small type-Kenyon cells (the Mblk-1 and the Ks-1 gene), as candidate genes involved in the highly advanced behavior of the honey bees. In this study, we isolated and characterized cDNAs for the Mblk-1 aad the Ks-1 genes.We found the Mblk-1 gene encodes a novel transcription factor and showed that this protein actually has transactivation activity. This is the first instance of a transcription factor expressed prefere … More ntially in the mushroom bodies of the insect brain and would be an important cue to understand the molecular basis of the insect brain function. The Mblk-1 homologue was also found in nematoda and mouse, suggesting that the function of Mblk-1 is conserved among various animals. On the contrary, the cDNA for the Ks-1 gene expressed preferentially in the small type-Kenyon cells encoded no significant ORF and the Ks-1 transcripts are located punctate in the nuclei of the small type-Kenyon cells. These results suggest that Ks-1 transcript functions as a non-translatable nuclear RNA to regulate the honey bee neuronal functions. This is the first instance of a neural cell type-preferential nuclear RNA and would be an important cue to analyze the function of a novel class RNA.In addition, the Q7 and QM1 genes expressed preferentially in the brain of the queens and the Agg-1 and Agg-2 genes expressed preferentially in the brain of the aggressive bees have been identified in this study, as candidate genes to be involved in the highly advanced behavior of the honey bees. Less