| Budget Amount *help |
¥15,700,000 (Direct Cost: ¥15,700,000)
Fiscal Year 2005: ¥6,000,000 (Direct Cost: ¥6,000,000)
Fiscal Year 2004: ¥9,700,000 (Direct Cost: ¥9,700,000)
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| Research Abstract |
Aiming at analyzing the molecular basis of the honeybee social behaviors, particularly the dance communication and aggressive behaviors, identification and analysis of genes that are expressed in brain region- and/or behavior-selective manners were performed. The summary of the achievements is as follows :
1.Brain regions associated with the dance communication were mapped by use of a novel immediate early gene, kakusei. The neural activity in the small-type Kenyon cells in the mushroom bodies (MBs) was enhanced in the dancer and forager honeybees.
2.Genes whose expression is enhanced in the worker brain compared with the queen brain were screened. The HR38 homologue, which is involved in ecdysteriod-signaling, was identified as expressed preferentially in the small-type Kenyon cells in the forager brain.
3.The expressions of two ecdysteroid-regulated genes, BR-C and E74, were concentrated in the MBs in the worker brain. In the MBs, they are expressed in Kenyon cell-selective manners, sug
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gesting different roles of the Kenyon cell subtypes.
4.The function of MBR-1, which is the C.elegans orthologue of Mblk-1, a MB-selective honeybee transcription factor, was analyzed genetically. The results revealed that the UNC-86-MBR-1 transcriptional cascade is involved in the pruning of excessive neuritis during development.
5.A protocol for visual-probosis extension reflex associative learning was established using harnessed honeybees for the analysis of the mechanisms of visual learning. The results indicated that the chromatic adaptation also occurs in the honeybee.
6.An epidemiologic study was performed for Kakugo virus (KV), which was originally identified from aggressive workers. KV was detected not only from attackers but also from the other worker populations in colonies that are heavily infected by KV.
In addition, mites are suggested to mediate KV prevalence.
These findings will provide important clues for further analysis of the molecular basis of the honeybee social behaviors. Less
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