Single-cell dissection of aggression in honeybee colonies

Area of Science:

• Behavioral Genetics
• Neurogenomics
• Systems Neuroscience

Background:

• Understanding genotype-phenotype links in collective behavior is challenging due to complex interactions.
• Hundreds of genes associated with honeybee aggression were identified, but their brain function influence was unknown.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how genetic variation for colony aggression influences individual brain gene expression and regulation.
• To test the hypothesis that gene regulatory network (GRN) plasticity underlies differences in honeybee aggression.

Main Methods:

• Single-cell transcriptomics (sc) and gene regulatory network (GRN) analyses were employed.
• Comparisons were made between soldier and forager honeybees, differing in aggressive responses.
• The influence of colony environment on gene regulation versus gene expression was assessed.

Main Results:

• Colony environment significantly impacted soldier-forager brain gene regulation more than gene expression.
• GRN plasticity strongly correlated with colony aggression levels.
• Regulatory dynamics of aggression-associated gene subnetworks showed higher correlations across cell types and brain regions, particularly in sensory integration areas.

Conclusions:

• Genetic variation for collective behavior, like honeybee aggression, shapes individual brain GRN architecture.
• GRN plasticity is a key mechanism linking genotypic variation to collective phenotypes.
• This study reveals how group genetics modulates individual neural networks to produce emergent group behaviors.