Seid Marc A, Goode Katarzyna, Li Christine, Traniello James F A
Department of Biology, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA.
Dev Neurobiol. 2008 Sep 15;68(11):1325-33. doi: 10.1002/dneu.20663.
Serotonin, a biogenic amine known to be a neuromodulator of insect behavior, has recently been associated with age-related patterns of task performance in the ant Pheidole dentata. We identified worker age- and subcaste-related patterns of serotonergic activity within the optic lobes of the P. dentata brain to further examine its relationship to polyethism. We found strong immunoreactivity in the optic lobes of the brains of both minor and major workers. Serotonergic cell bodies in the optic lobes increased significantly in number as major and minor workers matured. Old major workers had greater numbers of serotonergic cell bodies than minors of a similar age. This age-related increase in serotonergic immunoreactivity, as well as the presence of diffuse serotonin networks in the mushroom bodies, antennal lobes, and central complex, occurs concomitantly with an increase in the size of worker task repertoires. Our results suggest that serotonin is associated with the development of the visual system, enabling the detection of task-related stimuli outside the nest, thus playing a significant role in worker behavioral development and colony-wide division of labor.
血清素是一种已知的昆虫行为神经调节剂生物胺，最近它与齿胸蚁（Pheidole dentata）与年龄相关的任务表现模式有关。我们在齿胸蚁大脑的视叶内确定了与工蚁年龄和亚等级相关的血清素能活性模式，以进一步研究其与多型现象的关系。我们在小型和大型工蚁的大脑视叶中发现了强烈的免疫反应。随着大型和小型工蚁的成熟，视叶中的血清素能细胞体数量显著增加。年老的大型工蚁比同龄的小型工蚁有更多的血清素能细胞体。这种与年龄相关的血清素免疫反应性增加，以及蘑菇体、触角叶和中央复合体中弥漫性血清素网络的存在，与工蚁任务种类的增加同时发生。我们的结果表明，血清素与视觉系统的发育有关，能够检测巢穴外与任务相关的刺激，从而在工蚁行为发育和全蚁群分工中发挥重要作用。
