Kiya Taketoshi, Ugajin Atsushi, Kunieda Takekazu, Kubo Takeo
Division of Life Sciences, Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology, Kanazawa University, Kakuma-machi, Kanazawa, Ishikawa 920-1192, Japan.
Int J Mol Sci. 2012 Nov 22;13(12):15496-509. doi: 10.3390/ijms131215496.
The honeybee is a social insect that exhibits various social behaviors. To elucidate the neural basis of honeybee behavior, we detected neural activity in freely-moving honeybee workers using an immediate early gene (IEG) that is expressed in a neural activity-dependent manner. In European honeybees (Apis mellifera), we identified a novel nuclear non-coding RNA, termed kakusei, as the first insect IEG, and revealed the neural activity pattern in foragers. In addition, we isolated a homologue of kakusei, termed Acks, from the Japanese honeybee (Apis cerana), and detected active neurons in workers fighting with the giant hornet.
蜜蜂是一种表现出各种社会行为的群居昆虫。为了阐明蜜蜂行为的神经基础,我们使用一种以神经活动依赖方式表达的即早基因(IEG),检测了自由活动的工蜂的神经活动。在欧洲蜜蜂(西方蜜蜂)中,我们鉴定出一种名为觉醒(kakusei)的新型核非编码RNA,作为首个昆虫IEG,并揭示了觅食工蜂的神经活动模式。此外,我们从日本蜜蜂(东方蜜蜂)中分离出觉醒(kakusei)的同源物,称为Acks,并检测了与大黄蜂战斗的工蜂中的活跃神经元。