The ageing bee: how does sociality affect ageing in social animals?

解释生物体的衰老模式对于我们理解生命历史的多样性和以有益的方式操纵它们的能力都是至关重要的。然而，尽管老龄化进化论总体上取得了成功，但我们在理解上仍存在很大差距。衰老如何与社会性相互作用尚不清楚，具体地说，在社会动物中，长寿和衰老是否主要取决于个体或群体的属性，无论是在表型还是基因水平上，仍不清楚。这个项目的主要目的是利用熊蜂的实验和遗传方法来解决这些基本问题。熊蜂是一种典型的社会有机体，也是关键的传粉者。我们发现，在菌落周期早期产生的白纹伊蚊工蚁比后来产生的工蚁寿命明显更长。因此，该项目的具体目标将是区分这种差异的个人和群体层面的假设，通过实验来衡量工作者的寿命和基因表达水平作为个人和社会因素的函数。该学生将在UEA的实验室与B.terrestris菌落合作，设计和执行实验，区分个人和社会对寿命的影响。例如，实验将测试从早期群体转移到晚期群体的年轻工人的寿命是更长还是更短(目标1)。在类似的实验中，学生将使用定量聚合酶链式反应(QPCR)来确定与衰老相关的途径中的基因是否会因这种操作而改变其表达水平(目标2)。除了DTP提供的培训机会外，学生还将在主管的研究小组中接受研究培训和通用的、可转移的培训。研究培训将提供蜜蜂生态学、进化论和传粉者生物学方面的专业知识，以及昆虫饲养、实验设计、分子技术(RNA提取、qPCR)和数据分析方面的高级技能。通用的、可转移的培训将包括项目管理、书面和口头交流以及职业发展。学生将被鼓励在项目发展的同时塑造项目的方向。

Explaining patterns of ageing in organisms is essential for both our understanding of the diversity of life histories and our ability to manipulate them in beneficial ways. Yet, despite the overall success of the evolutionary theory of ageing, substantial gaps in our understanding remain. How ageing interacts with sociality is unclear and, specifically, in social animals, it remains unknown whether longevity and ageing depend primarily on properties of the individual or group, at either phenotypic or genetic levels. This project's main aim is to resolve these fundamental questions using experimental and genetic approaches in the bumble bee Bombus terrestris -- a model eusocial organism and a key pollinator. We have found that B. terrestris workers produced early in the colony cycle have significantly greater longevities than later-produced workers. The project's specific objectives will therefore be to discriminate between individual- and group-level hypotheses for this difference using experiments to measure the longevities and gene expression levels of workers as a function of individual and social factors.Working with B. terrestris colonies in the laboratory at UEA, the student will design and perform experiments to separate out individual and social influences on longevity. For example, experiments will test whether young workers transferred from early-stage colonies into late-stage colonies live longer or shorter lives (Objective 1). In similar experiments, the student will use quantitative PCR (qPCR) to determine whether genes in ageing-associated pathways change their expression levels in response to such manipulations (Objective 2). Alongside training opportunities provided by the DTP, the student will receive research training and generic, transferable training within the supervisors' research groups. Research training will provide expertise in bee ecology, evolutionary theory and pollinator biology plus advanced skills in insect husbandry, experimental design, molecular techniques (RNA extraction, qPCR) and data analysis. Generic, transferable training will cover project management, written and oral communication and career development. The student will be encouraged to shape the project's direction as it develops.