TY - JOUR
T1 - Reproductive ground plan may mediate colony-level selection effects on individual foraging behavior in honey bees
AU - Amdam, Gro
AU - Norberg, Karl
AU - Fondrk, M. Kim
AU - Page, Robert
PY - 2004/8/3
Y1 - 2004/8/3
N2 - The colony-level phenotype of an insect society emerges from interactions between large numbers of individuals that may differ considerably in their morphology, physiology, and behavior. The proximate and ultimate mechanisms that allow this complex integrated system to form are not fully known, and understanding the evolution of social life strategies is a major topic in systems biology. In solitary insects, behavior, sensory tuning, and reproductive physiology are linked. These associations are controlled in part by pleiotropic networks that organize the sequential expression of phases in the reproductive cycle. Here we explore whether similar associations give rise to different behavioral phenotypes in a eusocial worker caste. We document that the plelotropic genetic network that controls foraging behavior in functionally sterile honey bee workers (Apis mellifera) has a reproductive component. Associations between behavior, physiology, and sensory tuning in workers with different foraging strategies indicate that the underlying genetic architectures were designed to control a reproductive cycle. Genetic circuits that make up the regulatory "ground plan" of a reproductive strategy may provide powerful building blocks for social life. We suggest that exploitation of this ground plan plays a fundamental role in the evolution of social insect societies.
AB - The colony-level phenotype of an insect society emerges from interactions between large numbers of individuals that may differ considerably in their morphology, physiology, and behavior. The proximate and ultimate mechanisms that allow this complex integrated system to form are not fully known, and understanding the evolution of social life strategies is a major topic in systems biology. In solitary insects, behavior, sensory tuning, and reproductive physiology are linked. These associations are controlled in part by pleiotropic networks that organize the sequential expression of phases in the reproductive cycle. Here we explore whether similar associations give rise to different behavioral phenotypes in a eusocial worker caste. We document that the plelotropic genetic network that controls foraging behavior in functionally sterile honey bee workers (Apis mellifera) has a reproductive component. Associations between behavior, physiology, and sensory tuning in workers with different foraging strategies indicate that the underlying genetic architectures were designed to control a reproductive cycle. Genetic circuits that make up the regulatory "ground plan" of a reproductive strategy may provide powerful building blocks for social life. We suggest that exploitation of this ground plan plays a fundamental role in the evolution of social insect societies.
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U2 - 10.1073/pnas.0403073101
DO - 10.1073/pnas.0403073101
M3 - Article
C2 - 15277665
AN - SCOPUS:3843125168
SN - 0027-8424
VL - 101
SP - 11350
EP - 11355
JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
IS - 31
ER -