Gene Expression Profiles in the Brain Predict Behavior in Individual Honey Bees

Whitfield, Charles W.; Cziko, Anne Marie; Robinson, Gene E.

doi:10.1126/science.1086807

Cited by 548 publications

(626 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…There is no other study to date that has examined brain gene expression profiles of plastic phenotypes in a vertebrate, although it has been found that even higher proportions of the genome (up to 40%) are differentially regulated in two honeybee behavioural phenotypes (Whitfield et al 2003). For simplicity, genes found to be significantly upregulated in sneaker male brains relative to immature male brains are called 'sneaker biased', while genes found significantly upregulated in immature males compared with sneaker males are called 'immature male biased'.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Alternative life histories shape brain gene expression profiles in males of the same population

et al. 2005

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Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) undergo spectacular marine migrations before homing to spawn in natal rivers. However, males that grow fastest early in life can adopt an alternative 'sneaker' tactic by maturing earlier at greatly reduced size without leaving freshwater. While the ultimate evolutionary causes have been well studied, virtually nothing is known about the molecular bases of this developmental plasticity. We investigate the nature and extent of coordinated molecular changes that accompany such a fundamental transformation by comparing the brain transcription profiles of wild mature sneaker males to age-matched immature males (future large anadromous males) and immature females. Of the ca. 3000 genes surveyed, 15% are differentially expressed in the brains of the two male types. These genes are involved in a wide range of processes, including growth, reproduction and neural plasticity. Interestingly, despite the potential for wide variation in gene expression profiles among individuals sampled in nature, consistent patterns of gene expression were found for individuals of the same reproductive tactic. Notably, gene expression patterns in immature males were different both from immature females and sneakers, indicating that delayed maturation and sea migration by immature males, the 'default' life cycle, may actually result from an active inhibition of development into a sneaker.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Alternative life histories shape brain gene expression profiles in males of the same population

et al. 2005

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“…Based on the results of the factorial analysis we selected a set of 557 genes that varied only with role, not context or role Â context. We then used class prediction to identify a series of 'predictor gene sets' out of these 557 genes, and used 'leave-one-out' cross-validation [29,30] to find the smallest predictor gene set with the best prediction results. A minimum set of 89 genes was able to predict whether a bee was a scout or a recruit 92.5% of the time (clustering and heatmap: electronic supplementary material, figure S5; selection: electronic supplementary material, table S4a, gene list: electronic supplementary material, table S5).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparative brain transcriptomic analyses of scouting across distinct behavioural and ecological contexts in honeybees

et al. 2014

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Individual differences in behaviour are often consistent across time and contexts, but it is not clear whether such consistency is reflected at the molecular level. We explored this issue by studying scouting in honeybees in two different behavioural and ecological contexts: finding new sources of floral food resources and finding a new nest site. Brain gene expression profiles in food-source and nest-site scouts showed a significant overlap, despite large expression differences associated with the two different contexts. Class prediction and 'leave-one-out' cross-validation analyses revealed that a bee's role as a scout in either context could be predicted with 92.5% success using 89 genes at minimum. We also found that genes related to four neurotransmitter systems were part of a shared brain molecular signature in both types of scouts, and the two types of scouts were more similar for genes related to glutamate and GABA than catecholamine or acetylcholine signalling. These results indicate that consistent behavioural tendencies across different ecological contexts involve a mixture of similarities and differences in brain gene expression.

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“…Information on putative functions of these genes can be obtained from their expression profile in development, different tissues, or experimental conditions. In addition to candidate gene approaches, the available honey bee genomic database has also supported the development and exploration of non-hypothesis driven high-throughput gene expression data, resulting from suppression subtractive hybridization protocols and microarrays (Evans and Wheeler, 2000;Whitfield et al, 2003;Judice et al, 2006). Most of the currently published gene expression studies on honey bees, e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Validation of reference genes for gene expression studies in the honey bee,Apis mellifera, by quantitative real-time RT-PCR

et al. 2008

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-For obtaining accurate and reliable gene expression results it is essential that quantitative realtime RT-PCR (qRT-PCR) data are normalized with appropriate reference genes. The current exponential increase in postgenomic studies on the honey bee, Apis mellifera, makes the standardization of qRT-PCR results an important task for ongoing community efforts. For this aim we selected four candidate reference genes (actin, ribosomal protein 49, elongation factor 1-alpha, tbp-association factor) and used three software-based approaches (geNorm, BestKeeper and NormFinder) to evaluate the suitability of these genes as endogenous controls. Their expression was examined during honey bee development, in different tissues, and after juvenile hormone exposure. Furthermore, the importance of choosing an appropriate reference gene was investigated for two developmentally regulated target genes. The results led us to consider all four candidate genes as suitable genes for normalization in A. mellifera. However, each condition evaluated in this study revealed a specific set of genes as the most appropriated ones.quantitative real-time RT-PCR / reference genes / Apis mellifera / gene expression normalization

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Gene Expression Profiles in the Brain Predict Behavior in Individual Honey Bees

Cited by 548 publications

References 20 publications

Alternative life histories shape brain gene expression profiles in males of the same population

Alternative life histories shape brain gene expression profiles in males of the same population

Comparative brain transcriptomic analyses of scouting across distinct behavioural and ecological contexts in honeybees

Validation of reference genes for gene expression studies in the honey bee,Apis mellifera, by quantitative real-time RT-PCR

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