Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA; Lewis Sigler Institute of Integrative Genomics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA.
Lewis Sigler Institute of Integrative Genomics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA; Department of Physics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA.
Curr Biol. 2022 Jun 20;32(12):2754-2764.e5. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2022.04.066. Epub 2022 May 17.
Social isolation, particularly in early life, leads to deleterious physiological and behavioral outcomes. Here, we leverage new high-throughput tools to comprehensively investigate the impact of isolation in the bumblebee, Bombus impatiens, from behavioral, molecular, and neuroanatomical perspectives. We reared newly emerged bumblebees in complete isolation, in small groups, or in their natal colony, and then analyzed their behaviors while alone or paired with another bee. We find that when alone, individuals of each rearing condition show distinct behavioral signatures. When paired with a conspecific, bees reared in small groups or in the natal colony express similar behavioral profiles. Isolated bees, however, showed increased social interactions. To identify the neurobiological correlates of these differences, we quantified brain gene expression and measured the volumes of key brain regions for a subset of individuals from each rearing condition. Overall, we find that isolation increases social interactions and disrupts gene expression and brain development. Limited social experience in small groups is sufficient to preserve typical patterns of brain development and social behavior.
社交隔离，尤其是在生命早期，会导致有害的生理和行为结果。在这里，我们利用新的高通量工具，从行为、分子和神经解剖学的角度全面研究了隔离对熊蜂（Bombus impatiens）的影响。我们将新孵化的熊蜂分别进行完全隔离、小群体饲养或在其出生地饲养，然后分析它们独处或与另一只蜜蜂配对时的行为。我们发现，当独处时，每种饲养条件下的个体都表现出不同的行为特征。当与同种蜜蜂配对时，在小群体中饲养或在出生地饲养的蜜蜂表现出相似的行为模式。然而，被隔离的蜜蜂表现出更多的社交互动。为了确定这些差异的神经生物学相关性，我们对每个饲养条件下的一部分个体进行了大脑基因表达的定量和关键脑区体积的测量。总的来说，我们发现隔离会增加社交互动，并破坏基因表达和大脑发育。小群体中有限的社交经验足以维持大脑发育和社交行为的典型模式。
