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Correlation between octopaminergic signalling and foraging task specialisation in honeybees.

Andrés Arenas1,2, Rocío Lajad1,2, Tianfei Peng3

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Summary

Octopamine (OA) influences honeybee foraging decisions, encouraging a shift from nectar to pollen collection. This suggests OA signaling plays a key role in regulating the division of labor among bee foragers.

Keywords:
braindivision of labourhoneybeeoctopaminepollen foragersreceptor gene expressionsubesophageal gangliontask specialisationtask switchingtyramine

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Area of Science:

  • Behavioral Ecology
  • Neurobiology
  • Entomology

Background:

  • Honeybee foraging behavior, specifically the division of labor between nectar and pollen collection, is influenced by reward sensitivity.
  • Octopamine (OA) is a neurotransmitter in the bee brain implicated in processing reward-related information and modulating foraging strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the role of octopamine (OA) in regulating honeybee forager resource preferences, specifically the transition between nectar and pollen foraging.
  • To determine if OA administration affects the likelihood of bees switching from nectar to pollen collection.

Main Methods:

  • Oral administration of OA to assess its effect on the transition from sucrose solution to pollen foraging.
  • Feeding colonies OA-containing sucrose solution to evaluate changes in pollen foraging rates.
  • Quantifying the expression of OA and tyramine (TYR) receptor genes in pollen and nectar foragers in different brain regions.

Main Results:

  • Oral OA administration altered the probability of foragers switching from nectar to pollen collection.
  • Colonies fed OA-containing solutions showed an increased proportion of pollen foragers.
  • Upregulated expression of the OA receptor gene (AmoctαR1) was observed in pollen foragers compared to nectar foragers.
  • A tyramine receptor gene showed increased expression in the suboesophageal ganglia of pollen foragers.

Conclusions:

  • Octopamine signaling significantly influences honeybee foragers' decisions to collect either pollen or nectar.
  • Differential gene expression of OA and TYR receptors in specific brain regions may underlie the observed resource preference changes.