No abstract

No abstract

Odorant-binding proteins (OBPs) and chemosensory proteins (CSPs) mediate both perception and release of chemical stimuli in insects. The genome of the honey bee contains 21 genes encoding OBPs and 6 encoding CSPs. Using a proteomic approach, we have investigated the expression of OBPs and CSPs in the mandibular glands of adult honey bees in relation to caste and age. OBP13 is mostly expressed in young individuals and in virgin queens, while OBP21 is abundant in older bees and is prevalent in mated queens. OBP14, which had been found in larvae, is produced in hive workers' glands. Quite unexpectedly, the mandibular glands of drones also contain OBPs, mainly OBP18 and OBP21. We have expressed three of the most represented OBPs and studied their binding properties. OBP13 binds with good specificity oleic acid and some structurally related compounds, OBP14 is better tuned to monoterpenoid structures, while OBP21 binds the main components of queen mandibular pheromone as well as farnesol, a compound used as a trail pheromone in the honey bee and other hymenopterans. The high expression of different OBPs in the mandibular glands suggests that such proteins could be involved in solubilization and release of semiochemicals.

A modified version of the Ainsworth Strange Situation Test was used to analyse 40 dog–owner\ud pairs in order to assess whether owners can represent a secure base for their dogs. The Wilcoxon\ud test revealed significant differences between owner and stranger for protest at separation (whining),\ud contact maintenance effect (proximity, attention seeking and physical contact) and secure base\ud effect (exploration, individual play and social play). The results suggest that dogs behave similarly\ud to children towards the mothers and to chimpanzees towards human caretakers in the Ainsworth\ud Strange Situation Test: owners are the preferred recipient of affiliative behaviours and, in their\ud absence, dogs show behaviours indicative of distress. After reunion with the owner, dogs show\ud an increase in social behaviours towards him/her. Dogs did not show fear of the stranger, and it\ud was regarded as a normal behaviour for adult well-socialized dogs. Until now whether owners\ud represented a secure base for their dogs was debated, due to controversial results. This study found\ud that dogs play and explore more when owners were present, suggesting that owners can represent\ud a secure base for their dogs. Therefore, according to Bowlby’s definition, dogs are linked to their\ud owners by an attachment bond

No abstract