Alaux C, Le Conte Y, Adams H A, Rodriguez-Zas S, Grozinger C M, Sinha S, Robinson G E
Department of Entomology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA.
Genes Brain Behav. 2009 Apr;8(3):309-19. doi: 10.1111/j.1601-183X.2009.00480.x.
Pheromones are very important in animal communication. To learn more about the molecular basis of pheromone action, we studied the effects of a potent honey bee pheromone on brain gene expression. Brood pheromone (BP) caused changes in the expression of hundreds of genes in the bee brain in a manner consistent with its known effects on behavioral maturation. Brood pheromone exposure in young bees causes a delay in the transition from working in the hive to foraging, and we found that BP treatment tended to upregulate genes in the brain that are upregulated in bees specialized on brood care but downregulate genes that are upregulated in foragers. However, the effects of BP were age dependent; this pattern was reversed when older bees were tested, consistent with the stimulation of foraging by BP in older bees already competent to forage. These results support the idea that one way that pheromones influence behavior is by orchestrating large-scale changes in brain gene expression. We also found evidence for a relationship between cis and BP regulation of brain gene expression, with several cis-regulatory motifs statistically overrepresented in the promoter regions of genes regulated by BP. Transcription factors that target a few of these motifs have already been implicated in the regulation of bee behavior. Together these results demonstrate strong connections between pheromone effects, behavior, and regulation of brain gene expression.
信息素在动物交流中非常重要。为了更多地了解信息素作用的分子基础，我们研究了一种强效蜜蜂信息素对大脑基因表达的影响。幼虫信息素（BP）导致蜜蜂大脑中数百个基因的表达发生变化，其方式与其对行为成熟的已知影响一致。在幼蜂中暴露于幼虫信息素会导致从在蜂巢中工作到外出觅食的转变延迟，并且我们发现BP处理倾向于上调大脑中在专门照顾幼虫的蜜蜂中上调的基因，但下调在觅食者中上调的基因。然而，BP的影响取决于年龄；当测试老年蜜蜂时，这种模式会逆转，这与BP对已经有能力觅食的老年蜜蜂觅食行为的刺激一致。这些结果支持了这样一种观点，即信息素影响行为的一种方式是通过协调大脑基因表达的大规模变化。我们还发现了大脑基因表达的顺式调控与BP调控之间存在关系的证据，在受BP调控的基因的启动子区域中，有几个顺式调控基序在统计学上过度富集。靶向其中一些基序的转录因子已经与蜜蜂行为的调控有关。这些结果共同证明了信息素效应、行为和大脑基因表达调控之间的紧密联系。
