Dissecting the role of  Kr-h1   brain gene expression in   foraging behavior in honey bees (Apis mellifera).
Expression of Krüppel homolog-1 (Kr-h1) in the honey bee brain is strongly associated with foraging behavior. We performed a series of studies to determine if Kr-h1 expression correlates with specific aspects of foraging. We found that Kr-h1 expression is unaffected by flight experience in male bees. Expression was unaffected by behavioral reversion of workers from foraging to brood care, suggesting that expression is not associated with the active performance of foraging, but rather with stable physiological changes. Kr-h1 expression is increased by cGMP treatment in workers, and the Kr-h1 promoter contains a conserved potential cGMP response element. Since cGMP treatment causes precocious foraging, our results suggest that Kr-h1 expression is associated with cGMP-mediated changes in the brain that occur early in the transition to foraging behavior.
Fussnecker
B
B
Department of Genetics, and W.M. Keck Center for Behavioral Biology, 1566A Gardner Hall, MC 7613, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA. blfussne@ncsu.edu
Grozinger
C
C
D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D001516:Bees / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*; D015153:Blotting, Western; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D006152:Cyclic GMP / Q000494:pharmacology; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000187:drug effects; D005426:Flight, Animal / Q000502:physiology; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000187:drug effects; D051741:Kruppel-Like Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D020218:Response Elements; D016415:Sequence Alignment
D051741:Kruppel-Like Transcription Factors; D006152:Cyclic GMP