Project description:Expression profiling of honey bee brains as a function of treatments that accelerate the onset of foraging. Treatment groups included three treatments that accelerate the onset of foraging (methoprene [juvenile hormone analog], manganese, and cGMP) and two treatments that do not accelerate the onset of foraging (cAMP and vehicle control).
Project description:Previous work has shown that a series of honey bee brain proteins were probably linked to the proboscis extension reflex (PER) , a model studying insect behaviour. Herein, it was the aim of the study to generate a “synaptic proteome” and to investigate which proteins were paralleling olfactory conditioning. To address this information, we applied a non-sophisticated olfactory conditioning model using the proboscis extension reflex (PER) in the honeybee (Apis mellifera). Foraging honeybees were used in the study and three groups were formed, animals on water control, sucrose (PER) and olfactory conditioned (PER-conditioned) using 2-octanone. A synaptosomal preparation of honey bee brain for quantitative proteomics using stable isotope labelling (TMT 10plex) was performed. In addition a synaptosomal brain proteome was generated. Protein levels that were modified during olfactory conditioning were associated with “SNARE interactions in vesicular transport” (BET1 and VAMP7), ABC transporters, and fatty acid degradation pathways.. A honey bee synaptosomal proteome dataset including neurotransmitter receptors and transporters was generated.
Project description:Neonicotinoid insecticides have been implicated in honey bee declines, with many studies showing that sub-lethal exposure impacts bee behaviors such as foraging, learning and memory. Despite the large number of ecotoxicological studies carried out to date, most focus on a handful of worker phenotypes leading to a ‘streetlight effect’ where the a priori choice of phenotypes to measure may influence the results and conclusions arising from the studies. This bias can be overcome with the use of toxicological transcriptomics, where changes in gene expression can provide a more objective view of how pesticides alter animal physiology. Here, we used RNA sequencing to examine the changes in neurogenomic states of nurse and forager honey bees that were naturally exposed to neonicotinoids in the field and artificially exposed to neonicotinoid in a controlled experiment.
Project description:Honey bee non-CG DNA hydroxymethylation is enriched in the introns, which supplements previous findings that honey bee CG DNA methylation is enriched in exons.
Project description:Our molecular understanding of honey bee cellular stress responses is incomplete. Previously, we sought to identify and began functional characterization of the components of the UPR in honey bees. We observed that UPR stimulation resulted in induction of target genes upon and IRE1 pathway activation, as assessed by splicing of Xbp1 mRNA. However, were not able to determine the relative role of the various UPR pathways in gene activation. Our understanding of honey bee signal transduction and transcriptional regulation has been hampered by a lack of tools. After using RNAseq to expand the known UPR targets in the bee, we use the Drosophila melanogaster S2 cell line and honey bee trans and cis elements to investigate the role of the IRE-1 pathway in the transcriptional activation of one of these targets, the honey bee Hsc70-3 gene. Using a luciferase reporter, we show that honey bee hsc70 promoter activity is inducible by UPR activation. In addition, we show that this activation is IRE1-dependent and relies on specific cis regulatory elements. Experiments using exogenous honey bee or fruit fly XBP1S proteins demonstrate that both factors can activate the Hsc70-3 promoter and further support a role for the IRE-1 pathway in control of its expression in the honey bee. By providing foundational knowledge about the UPR in the honey bee and demonstrating the usefulness of a heterologous cell line for molecular characterization of honey bee pathways, this work stands to improve our understanding of this critical species.
Project description:This experiment examines gene expression profiles in the brains of adult honey bee workers (Apis mellifera) performing different behavioral tasks in the hive. The different behavioral groups examined were nurse, comb builder, guard, undertaker, and forager. The comb builder, guard, and undertaker behavioral groups perform their respective tasks over a relatively short time scale (typically 1 day), while nursing and foraging are longer duration (lasting > 1 week). The purpose of this study was to examine whether behaviors that persist over different time scales are associated with differences in the extent of gene expression changes in the brain.
Project description:Honey bees move through a series of in-hive tasks (“nursing”) to outside tasks (“foraging”) that coincident with an intense increase in metabolic activity. Social context can cause worker bees to speed up, or slow down this process and foragers may revert back to their earlier in hive tasks accompanied by reversion to earlier physiological states. To determine if the transcriptional profile of forager bees can revert, or if the effects of flight on gene expression are irreversible, we used whole-genome microarrays. Brain tissue and flight muscle exhibited independent patterns of expression during behavioral transitions, with patterns of expression in the brain reflecting both age and behavior, while flight muscle exhibited primarily age-related patterns of expression. Our data suggest that the transition from little to no flight (nurse) to intense flight (forager), rather than the amount of flight has a major effect on gene expression. Following behavioral reversion there was a partial reversion in gene expression but some aspects of forager expression patterns, such as those for genes involved in immune function, remained. These data suggest an epigenetic control and energy balance role in honey bee functional senescence.