Genetic control of honeybee dance

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16H06209
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (A)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Research Field: Insect science
• Research Institution: Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University
• Principal Investigator: Mikheyev Alexander 沖縄科学技術大学院大学, 生態・進化学ユニット, 准教授 (90601162)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: animal behavior / social insects / machine learning

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Understanding how genes make new phenotypes has been an ongoing challenge, despite the availability of genome-wide data. This project aimed to further our knowledge of the genetic organization of complex traits using they honey bee dance language a model. We made significant progress on developing the tracking software. Unfortunately, the geographic race of honey bees we proposed for the study did not perform well in the Okinawan climate. After two seasons of failed crosses we pivoted towards other applications of this technology and other experimental perturbations of gene expression (RNAi) for the study of bee behavior and physiology. The experimental toolkit developed in the course of this grant has great potential, and we are applying it to a range of other studies. Using the developed tools, we will also continue to work on the genetic architecture of dance, as originally planned, but conducting the crosses with a collaborator located in a more suitable climate.

Free Research Field

生態・環境