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Klein C, Barron AB. Comparing cognition across major transitions using the hierarchy of formal automata. Wiley Interdiscip Rev Cogn Sci 2024:e1680. [PMID: 38655871 DOI: 10.1002/wcs.1680] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2023] [Revised: 04/02/2024] [Accepted: 04/04/2024] [Indexed: 04/26/2024]
Abstract
The evolution of cognition can be understood in terms of a few major transitions-changes in the computational architecture of nervous systems that changed what cognitive capacities could be evolved by downstream lineages. We demonstrate how the idea of a major cognitive transition can be modeled in terms of where a system's effective computational architecture falls on the well-studied hierarchy of formal automata (HFA). We then use recent work connecting artificial neural networks to the HFA, which provides a way to make the structure-architecture link in natural systems. We conclude with reflections on the power and the challenges of traditional thinking when applied to neural architectures. This article is categorized under: Cognitive Biology > Evolutionary Roots of Cognition Psychology > Comparative Philosophy > Foundations of Cognitive Science.
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Affiliation(s)
- Colin Klein
- School of Philosophy, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
| | - Andrew B Barron
- School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University, North Ryde, New South Wales, Australia
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2
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Howard SR, Barron AB. Understanding the limits to animal cognition. Curr Biol 2024; 34:R294-R300. [PMID: 38593777 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2024.02.043] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/11/2024]
Abstract
The thriving field of comparative cognition examines the behaviour of diverse animals in cognitive terms. Comparative cognition research has primarily focused on the abilities of animals - what tasks they can do - rather than on the limits of their cognition - tasks that exceed an animal's cognitive abilities. We propose that understanding and identifying cognitive limits is as important as demonstrating the capacities of animal minds. Here, we identify challenges that have deterred the study of cognitive limits related to epistemic, practical and publication problems. The epistemic problem is concerned with how we can confidently infer a cognitive limit from null or negative results. The practical problem is how can we be certain our research has identified a cognitive limit rather than failures in tasks due to methodological or experimental design issues. The publication problem outlines the publication bias toward positive and exciting results over negative or null results in animal cognition. We propose solutions to these three challenges and examples of how to conduct research to confidently identify and confirm cognitive limits in animals. We believe a refocus on the cognitive limits of animals is the next step in the field of comparative cognition. Knowing the limits to the intelligence of different animals will aid us in appreciating the diversity of animal intelligence, and will resolve outstanding questions of how cognition evolves.
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Affiliation(s)
- Scarlett R Howard
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC 3800, Australia
| | - Andrew B Barron
- School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia.
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3
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Monchanin C, Drujont E, Le Roux G, Lösel PD, Barron AB, Devaud JM, Elger A, Lihoreau M. Environmental exposure to metallic pollution impairs honey bee brain development and cognition. J Hazard Mater 2024; 465:133218. [PMID: 38113738 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.133218] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2023] [Revised: 12/03/2023] [Accepted: 12/08/2023] [Indexed: 12/21/2023]
Abstract
Laboratory studies show detrimental effects of metallic pollutants on invertebrate behaviour and cognition, even at low levels. Here we report a field study on Western honey bees exposed to metal and metalloid pollution through dusts, food and water at a historic mining site. We analysed more than 1000 bees from five apiaries along a gradient of contamination within 11 km of a former gold mine in Southern France. Bees collected close to the mine exhibited olfactory learning performances lower by 36% and heads smaller by 4%. Three-dimensional scans of bee brains showed that the olfactory centres of insects sampled close to the mine were also 4% smaller, indicating neurodevelopmental issues. Our study raises serious concerns about the health of honey bee populations in areas polluted with potentially harmful elements, particularly with arsenic, and illustrates how standard cognitive tests can be used for risk assessment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Coline Monchanin
- CNRS, University Paul Sabatier, Toulouse III, France; Research Center on Animal Cognition (CRCA), Center for Integrative Biology (CBI), University Paul Sabatier, Toulouse III, France; Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, NSW, Australia
| | - Erwann Drujont
- CNRS, University Paul Sabatier, Toulouse III, France; Research Center on Animal Cognition (CRCA), Center for Integrative Biology (CBI), University Paul Sabatier, Toulouse III, France
| | - Gaël Le Roux
- Laboratoire Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Environnement, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, INPT, UPS, Toulouse, France
| | - Philipp D Lösel
- Engineering Mathematics and Computing Lab (EMCL), Interdisciplinary Center for Scientific Computing (IWR), Heidelberg University, Germany; Department of Materials Physics, Research School of Physics, The Australian National University, ACT, Australia
| | - Andrew B Barron
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, NSW, Australia
| | - Jean-Marc Devaud
- CNRS, University Paul Sabatier, Toulouse III, France; Research Center on Animal Cognition (CRCA), Center for Integrative Biology (CBI), University Paul Sabatier, Toulouse III, France
| | - Arnaud Elger
- Laboratoire Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Environnement, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, INPT, UPS, Toulouse, France
| | - Mathieu Lihoreau
- CNRS, University Paul Sabatier, Toulouse III, France; Research Center on Animal Cognition (CRCA), Center for Integrative Biology (CBI), University Paul Sabatier, Toulouse III, France.
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4
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Barron AB, Mourmourakis F. The relationship between cognition and brain size or neuron number. Brain Behav Evol 2023:000532013. [PMID: 37487478 DOI: 10.1159/000532013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2023] [Accepted: 07/05/2023] [Indexed: 07/26/2023]
Abstract
The comparative approach is a powerful way to explore the relationship between brain structure and cognitive function. Thus far the field has been dominated by the assumption that a bigger brain somehow means better cognition. Correlations between differences in brain size or neuron number between species and differences in specific cognitive abilities exist, but these correlations are very noisy. Extreme differences exist between clades in the relationship between either brain size or neuron number and specific cognitive abilities. This means that correlations become weaker, not stronger, as the taxonomic diversity of sampled groups increases. Cognition is the outcome of neural networks. Here we propose that considering plausible neural network models will advance our understanding of the complex relationships between neuron number and different aspects of cognition. Computational modelling of networks suggests that adding pathways, or layers, or changing patterns of connectivity in a network can all have different specific consequences for cognition. Consequently, models of computational architecture can help us hypothesise how and why differences in neuron number might be related to differences in cognition. As methods in connectomics continue to improve and more structural information on animal brains becomes available we are learning more about natural network structures in brains, and we can develop more biologically plausible models of cognitive architecture. Natural animal diversity then becomes a powerful resource to both test the assumptions of these models and explore hypotheses for how neural network structure and network size might delimit cognitive function.
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5
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Barron AB, Halina M, Klein C. Transitions in cognitive evolution. Proc Biol Sci 2023; 290:20230671. [PMID: 37403503 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2023.0671] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/06/2023] Open
Abstract
The evolutionary history of animal cognition appears to involve a few major transitions: major changes that opened up new phylogenetic possibilities for cognition. Here, we review and contrast current transitional accounts of cognitive evolution. We discuss how an important feature of an evolutionary transition should be that it changes what is evolvable, so that the possible phenotypic spaces before and after a transition are different. We develop an account of cognitive evolution that focuses on how selection might act on the computational architecture of nervous systems. Selection for operational efficiency or robustness can drive changes in computational architecture that then make new types of cognition evolvable. We propose five major transitions in the evolution of animal nervous systems. Each of these gave rise to a different type of computational architecture that changed the evolvability of a lineage and allowed the evolution of new cognitive capacities. Transitional accounts have value in that they allow a big-picture perspective of macroevolution by focusing on changes that have had major consequences. For cognitive evolution, however, we argue it is most useful to focus on evolutionary changes to the nervous system that changed what is evolvable, rather than to focus on specific cognitive capacities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew B Barron
- School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Marta Halina
- Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Colin Klein
- School of Philosophy, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
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MaBouDi H, Marshall JAR, Dearden N, Barron AB. How honey bees make fast and accurate decisions. eLife 2023; 12:e86176. [PMID: 37365884 PMCID: PMC10299826 DOI: 10.7554/elife.86176] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/14/2023] [Accepted: 05/24/2023] [Indexed: 06/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Honey bee ecology demands they make both rapid and accurate assessments of which flowers are most likely to offer them nectar or pollen. To understand the mechanisms of honey bee decision-making, we examined their speed and accuracy of both flower acceptance and rejection decisions. We used a controlled flight arena that varied both the likelihood of a stimulus offering reward and punishment and the quality of evidence for stimuli. We found that the sophistication of honey bee decision-making rivalled that reported for primates. Their decisions were sensitive to both the quality and reliability of evidence. Acceptance responses had higher accuracy than rejection responses and were more sensitive to changes in available evidence and reward likelihood. Fast acceptances were more likely to be correct than slower acceptances; a phenomenon also seen in primates and indicative that the evidence threshold for a decision changes dynamically with sampling time. To investigate the minimally sufficient circuitry required for these decision-making capacities, we developed a novel model of decision-making. Our model can be mapped to known pathways in the insect brain and is neurobiologically plausible. Our model proposes a system for robust autonomous decision-making with potential application in robotics.
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Affiliation(s)
- HaDi MaBouDi
- Department of Computer Science, University of SheffieldSheffieldUnited Kingdom
- Sheffield Neuroscience Institute, University of SheffieldSheffieldUnited Kingdom
| | - James AR Marshall
- Department of Computer Science, University of SheffieldSheffieldUnited Kingdom
- Sheffield Neuroscience Institute, University of SheffieldSheffieldUnited Kingdom
| | - Neville Dearden
- Department of Computer Science, University of SheffieldSheffieldUnited Kingdom
| | - Andrew B Barron
- Department of Computer Science, University of SheffieldSheffieldUnited Kingdom
- School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie UniversityNorth RydeAustralia
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7
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Othman NW, Barron AB, Cooper PD. Feeding and Amines Stimulate the Growth of the Salivary Gland following Short-Term Starvation in the Black Field Cricket, Teleogryllus commodus. Insects 2023; 14:495. [PMID: 37367311 DOI: 10.3390/insects14060495] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/06/2023] [Revised: 05/12/2023] [Accepted: 05/22/2023] [Indexed: 06/28/2023]
Abstract
The salivary gland of the black field cricket, Teleogryllus commodus Walker changed size between being starved and fed. Crickets without access to food for 72 h showed a reduction in both wet and dry mass of the glands compared with the glands from continuously fed animals at 72 h. Glands returned to size following ingestion within 10 min. Salivary glands of starved crickets (72 h) were incubated in saline containing either serotonin (5-HT) or dopamine (DA). Glands increased to pre-starvation size after 1 h incubation in situ with either 10-4 moles L-1 5-HT or 10-4 moles L-1 DA, although lower concentrations (10-5 moles L-1) did not affect gland size. From immunohistochemistry, amines appeared to shift from zymogen cells during starvation to parietal cells following feeding. High-performance liquid chromatography showed that serotonin concentration is higher than dopamine in the salivary gland removed from starved and fed crickets, but the quantity of these compounds was not dependent upon feeding state; the amine quantities increased as gland size increased. Further work is necessary to determine what might be the stimulus for gland growth and if dopamine and serotonin play a role in the stimulation of salivary gland growth after a period of starvation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nurul Wahida Othman
- Centre of Insect Systematics, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi 43600, Selangor, Malaysia
| | - Andrew B Barron
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
| | - Paul D Cooper
- Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
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8
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Zhang Y, He XJ, Barron AB, Li Z, Jin MJ, Wang ZL, Huang Q, Zhang LZ, Wu XB, Yan WY, Zeng ZJ. The diverging epigenomic landscapes of honeybee queens and workers revealed by multiomic sequencing. Insect Biochem Mol Biol 2023; 155:103929. [PMID: 36906046 DOI: 10.1016/j.ibmb.2023.103929] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2022] [Revised: 02/27/2023] [Accepted: 03/02/2023] [Indexed: 05/10/2023]
Abstract
The role of the epigenome in phenotypic plasticity is unclear presently. Here we used a multiomics approach to explore the nature of the epigenome in developing honey bee (Apis mellifera) workers and queens. Our data clearly showed distinct queen and worker epigenomic landscapes during the developmental process. Differences in gene expression between workers and queens become more extensive and more layered during the process of development. Genes known to be important for caste differentiation were more likely to be regulated by multiple epigenomic systems than other differentially expressed genes. We confirmed the importance of two candidate genes for caste differentiation by using RNAi to manipulate the expression of two genes that differed in expression between workers and queens were regulated by multiple epigenomic systems. For both genes the RNAi manipulation resulted in a decrease in weight and fewer ovarioles of newly emerged queens compared to controls. Our data show that the distinct epigenomic landscapes of worker and queen bees differentiate during the course of larval development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yong Zhang
- Honeybee Research Institute, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, Jiangxi, 330045, PR China; Jiangxi Province Honeybee Biology and Beekeeping Nanchang, Jiangxi, 330045, PR China
| | - Xu Jiang He
- Honeybee Research Institute, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, Jiangxi, 330045, PR China; Jiangxi Province Honeybee Biology and Beekeeping Nanchang, Jiangxi, 330045, PR China
| | - Andrew B Barron
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, North Ryde, NSW, 2109, Australia
| | - Zhen Li
- Honeybee Research Institute, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, Jiangxi, 330045, PR China; Jiangxi Province Honeybee Biology and Beekeeping Nanchang, Jiangxi, 330045, PR China
| | - Meng Jie Jin
- Honeybee Research Institute, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, Jiangxi, 330045, PR China; Jiangxi Province Honeybee Biology and Beekeeping Nanchang, Jiangxi, 330045, PR China
| | - Zi Long Wang
- Honeybee Research Institute, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, Jiangxi, 330045, PR China; Jiangxi Province Honeybee Biology and Beekeeping Nanchang, Jiangxi, 330045, PR China
| | - Qiang Huang
- Honeybee Research Institute, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, Jiangxi, 330045, PR China; Jiangxi Province Honeybee Biology and Beekeeping Nanchang, Jiangxi, 330045, PR China
| | - Li Zhen Zhang
- Honeybee Research Institute, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, Jiangxi, 330045, PR China; Jiangxi Province Honeybee Biology and Beekeeping Nanchang, Jiangxi, 330045, PR China
| | - Xiao Bo Wu
- Honeybee Research Institute, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, Jiangxi, 330045, PR China; Jiangxi Province Honeybee Biology and Beekeeping Nanchang, Jiangxi, 330045, PR China
| | - Wei Yu Yan
- Honeybee Research Institute, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, Jiangxi, 330045, PR China; Jiangxi Province Honeybee Biology and Beekeeping Nanchang, Jiangxi, 330045, PR China
| | - Zhi Jiang Zeng
- Honeybee Research Institute, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, Jiangxi, 330045, PR China; Jiangxi Province Honeybee Biology and Beekeeping Nanchang, Jiangxi, 330045, PR China.
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9
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Nordström K, Barron AB. Vision: Flies move their eyes. Curr Biol 2023; 33:R20-R22. [PMID: 36626857 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2022.11.031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
As you are reading this text, your eyes scan across the page, even if you keep your head perfectly still. New research reveals that flies can perform analogous retinal movements, despite their eyes being rigidly fixed to their heads.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karin Nordström
- Neuroscience, Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia; Department of Medical Cell Biology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
| | - Andrew B Barron
- School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia.
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10
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Solvi C, Zhou Y, Feng Y, Lu Y, Roper M, Sun L, Reid RJ, Chittka L, Barron AB, Peng F. Bumblebees retrieve only the ordinal ranking of foraging options when comparing memories obtained in distinct settings. eLife 2022; 11:78525. [PMID: 36164830 PMCID: PMC9514845 DOI: 10.7554/elife.78525] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2022] [Accepted: 09/12/2022] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Are animals’ preferences determined by absolute memories for options (e.g. reward sizes) or by their remembered ranking (better/worse)? The only studies examining this question suggest humans and starlings utilise memories for both absolute and relative information. We show that bumblebees’ learned preferences are based only on memories of ordinal comparisons. A series of experiments showed that after learning to discriminate pairs of different flowers by sucrose concentration, bumblebees preferred flowers (in novel pairings) with (1) higher ranking over equal absolute reward, (2) higher ranking over higher absolute reward, and (3) identical qualitative ranking but different quantitative ranking equally. Bumblebees used absolute information in order to rank different flowers. However, additional experiments revealed that, even when ranking information was absent (i.e. bees learned one flower at a time), memories for absolute information were lost or could no longer be retrieved after at most 1 hr. Our results illuminate a divergent mechanism for bees (compared to starlings and humans) of learned preferences that may have arisen from different adaptations to their natural environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cwyn Solvi
- Department of Psychology, School of Public Health, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China.,Ecology and Genetics Research Unit, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
| | - Yonghe Zhou
- Department of Psychology, School of Public Health, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China.,Biological and Experimental Psychology, School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Yunxiao Feng
- Department of Psychology, School of Public Health, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Yuyi Lu
- Department of Psychology, School of Public Health, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Mark Roper
- Biological and Experimental Psychology, School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Li Sun
- Department of Psychology, School of Public Health, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Rebecca J Reid
- Biological and Experimental Psychology, School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Lars Chittka
- Biological and Experimental Psychology, School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Andrew B Barron
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
| | - Fei Peng
- Department of Psychology, School of Public Health, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China.,Department of Psychiatry, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China.,Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Center for Brain Science and Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China
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11
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Monchanin C, Gabriela de Brito Sanchez M, Lecouvreur L, Boidard O, Méry G, Silvestre J, Le Roux G, Baqué D, Elger A, Barron AB, Lihoreau M, Devaud JM. Honey bees cannot sense harmful concentrations of metal pollutants in food. Chemosphere 2022; 297:134089. [PMID: 35240159 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.134089] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2021] [Revised: 02/02/2022] [Accepted: 02/21/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Whether animals can actively avoid food contaminated with harmful compounds through taste is key to assess their ecotoxicological risks. Here, we investigated the ability of honey bees to perceive and avoid food resources contaminated with common metal pollutants known to impair behaviour at low concentrations. In laboratory assays, bees did not discriminate food contaminated with arsenic, lead or zinc and ingested it readily, up to estimated doses of 929.1 μg g-1 As, 6.45 mg g-1 Pb and 72.46 mg g-1 Zn. A decrease of intake and appetitive responses indicating metal detection was only observed at the highest concentrations of lead (3.6 mM) and zinc (122.3 mM) through contact with the antennae and the proboscis. Electrophysiological analyses confirmed that only high concentrations of the three metals in a sucrose solution induced a consistently reduced neural response to sucrose in antennal taste receptors (As: >0.1 μM, Pb: >1 mM; Zn: >100 mM). Overall, cellular and behavioural responses did not provide evidence for specific mechanisms that would support selective detection of toxic metals (arsenic, lead), as compared to zinc, which has important biological functions. Our results thus show that honey bees can avoid metal pollutants in their food only at high concentrations unlikely to be encountered in the environment. By contrast, they appear to be unable to detect low, yet harmful, concentrations found in flowers. Metal pollution at trace levels is therefore a major threat for pollinators.
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Affiliation(s)
- Coline Monchanin
- Centre de Recherches sur La Cognition Animale (CRCA), Centre de Biologie Intégrative (CBI), Université de Toulouse, CNRS, France; Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, NSW, Australia
| | - Maria Gabriela de Brito Sanchez
- Centre de Recherches sur La Cognition Animale (CRCA), Centre de Biologie Intégrative (CBI), Université de Toulouse, CNRS, France
| | - Loreleï Lecouvreur
- Centre de Recherches sur La Cognition Animale (CRCA), Centre de Biologie Intégrative (CBI), Université de Toulouse, CNRS, France
| | - Océane Boidard
- Centre de Recherches sur La Cognition Animale (CRCA), Centre de Biologie Intégrative (CBI), Université de Toulouse, CNRS, France
| | - Grégoire Méry
- Centre de Recherches sur La Cognition Animale (CRCA), Centre de Biologie Intégrative (CBI), Université de Toulouse, CNRS, France
| | - Jérôme Silvestre
- Laboratoire Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Environnement, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, Toulouse, France
| | - Gaël Le Roux
- Laboratoire Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Environnement, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, Toulouse, France
| | - David Baqué
- Laboratoire Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Environnement, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, Toulouse, France
| | - Arnaud Elger
- Laboratoire Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Environnement, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, Toulouse, France
| | - Andrew B Barron
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, NSW, Australia
| | - Mathieu Lihoreau
- Centre de Recherches sur La Cognition Animale (CRCA), Centre de Biologie Intégrative (CBI), Université de Toulouse, CNRS, France
| | - Jean-Marc Devaud
- Centre de Recherches sur La Cognition Animale (CRCA), Centre de Biologie Intégrative (CBI), Université de Toulouse, CNRS, France.
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12
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He XJ, Barron AB, Yang L, Chen H, He YZ, Zhang LZ, Huang Q, Wang ZL, Wu XB, Yan WY, Zeng ZJ. Extent and complexity of RNA processing in honey bee queen and worker caste development. iScience 2022; 25:104301. [PMID: 35573188 PMCID: PMC9097701 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.104301] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2021] [Revised: 03/12/2022] [Accepted: 04/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/03/2022] Open
Abstract
The distinct honeybee (Apis mellifera) worker and queen castes have become a model for the study of genomic mechanisms of phenotypic plasticity. Here we performed a nanopore-based direct RNA sequencing with exceptionally long reads to compare the mRNA transcripts between queen and workers at three points during their larval development. We found thousands of significantly differentially expressed transcript isoforms (DEIs) between queen and worker larvae. These DEIs were formatted by a flexible splicing system. We showed that poly(A) tails participated in this caste differentiation by negatively regulating the expression of DEIs. Hundreds of isoforms uniquely expressed in either queens or workers during their larval development, and isoforms were expressed at different points in queen and worker larval development demonstrating a dynamic relationship between isoform expression and developmental mechanisms. These findings show the full complexity of RNA processing and transcript expression in honey bee phenotypic plasticity. Honeybee caste differentiation has a complexity of RNA processing Isoforms differentially express between queens and workers during larval development Isoforms are formatted by a flexible alternative splicing system Poly(A) tails are negatively correlated with isoform expression
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Affiliation(s)
- Xu Jiang He
- Honeybee Research Institute, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, Jiangxi 330045, P. R. of China.,Jiangxi Province Honeybee Biology and Beekeeping Nanchang, Jiangxi 330045, P. R. of China
| | - Andrew B Barron
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, North Ryde, NSW 2109, Australia
| | - Liu Yang
- Wuhan Benagen Tech Solutions Company Limited, Wuhan, Hubei 430021, P. R. of China
| | - Hu Chen
- Wuhan Benagen Tech Solutions Company Limited, Wuhan, Hubei 430021, P. R. of China
| | - Yu Zhu He
- Honeybee Research Institute, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, Jiangxi 330045, P. R. of China
| | - Li Zhen Zhang
- Honeybee Research Institute, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, Jiangxi 330045, P. R. of China
| | - Qiang Huang
- Honeybee Research Institute, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, Jiangxi 330045, P. R. of China
| | - Zi Long Wang
- Honeybee Research Institute, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, Jiangxi 330045, P. R. of China
| | - Xiao Bo Wu
- Honeybee Research Institute, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, Jiangxi 330045, P. R. of China
| | - Wei Yu Yan
- Honeybee Research Institute, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, Jiangxi 330045, P. R. of China
| | - Zhi Jiang Zeng
- Honeybee Research Institute, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, Jiangxi 330045, P. R. of China.,Jiangxi Province Honeybee Biology and Beekeeping Nanchang, Jiangxi 330045, P. R. of China
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13
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Colin T, Warren RJ, Quarrell SR, Allen GR, Barron AB. Evaluating the foraging performance of individual honey bees in different environments with automated field
RFID
systems. Ecosphere 2022. [DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.4088] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Théotime Colin
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences The University of Sydney Sydney New South Wales Australia
- Department of Biological Sciences Macquarie University Sydney New South Wales Australia
| | - Ryan J. Warren
- Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture University of Tasmania Hobart Tasmania Australia
| | - Stephen R. Quarrell
- Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture University of Tasmania Hobart Tasmania Australia
| | - Geoff R. Allen
- Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture University of Tasmania Hobart Tasmania Australia
| | - Andrew B. Barron
- Department of Biological Sciences Macquarie University Sydney New South Wales Australia
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14
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Ozdemir A, Scerri M, Barron AB, Philippides A, Mangan M, Vasilaki E, Manneschi L. EchoVPR: Echo State Networks for Visual Place Recognition. IEEE Robot Autom Lett 2022. [DOI: 10.1109/lra.2022.3150505] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
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15
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Paten AM, Colin T, Coppin CW, Court LN, Barron AB, Oakeshott JG, Morgan MJ. Non-additive gene interactions underpin molecular and phenotypic responses in honey bee larvae exposed to imidacloprid and thymol. Sci Total Environ 2022; 814:152614. [PMID: 34963587 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.152614] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2021] [Revised: 12/17/2021] [Accepted: 12/18/2021] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Understanding the cumulative risk of chemical mixtures at environmentally realistic concentrations is a key challenge in honey bee ecotoxicology. Ecotoxicogenomics, including transcriptomics, measures responses in individual organisms at the molecular level which can provide insights into the mechanisms underlying phenotypic responses induced by one or more stressors and link impacts on individuals to populations. Here, fifth instar honey bee larvae were sampled from a previously reported field experiment exploring the phenotypic impacts of environmentally realistic chronic exposures of the pesticide imidacloprid (5 μg.kg-1 for six weeks) and the acaricide thymol (250 g.kg-1 applied via Apiguard gel in-hive for four weeks), both separately and in combination. RNA-seq was used to discover individual and interactive chemical effects on larval gene expression and to uncover molecular mechanisms linked to reported adult and colony phenotypes. The separate and combined treatments had distinct gene expression profiles which represented differentially affected signaling and metabolic pathways. The molecular signature of the mixture was characterised by additive interactions in canonical stress responses associated with oxidative stress and detoxification, and non-additive interactions in secondary responses including developmental, neurological, and immune pathways. Novel emergent impacts on eye development genes correlated with long-term defects in visual learning performance as adults. This is consistent with these chemicals working through independent modes of action that combine to impact common downstream pathways, and highlights the importance of establishing mechanistic links between molecular and phenotypic responses when predicting effects of chemical mixtures on ecologically relevant population outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amy M Paten
- Land and Water, CSIRO, Black Mountain, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.
| | - Théotime Colin
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales 2109, Australia
| | - Chris W Coppin
- Land and Water, CSIRO, Black Mountain, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.
| | - Leon N Court
- Land and Water, CSIRO, Black Mountain, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.
| | - Andrew B Barron
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales 2109, Australia.
| | - John G Oakeshott
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales 2109, Australia; Applied Biosciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales 2109, Australia
| | - Matthew J Morgan
- Land and Water, CSIRO, Black Mountain, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.
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16
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Meikle WG, Colin T, Adamczyk JJ, Weiss M, Barron AB. Traces of a neonicotinoid pesticide stimulate different honey bee colony activities, but do not increase colony size or longevity. Ecotoxicol Environ Saf 2022; 231:113202. [PMID: 35051760 DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2022.113202] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2021] [Revised: 12/14/2021] [Accepted: 01/13/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
How neonicotinoid contamination affects honey bees remains controversial. Studies have yielded contradictory results, and few have examined effects on colony development. Here we report the results of a comprehensive five-year study of the effects of the neonicotinoid imidacloprid on honey bee colonies. Colonies fed 5 ng/g (ppb) imidacloprid in sugar syrup showed increased brood production, lower temperature variability, higher CO2 production and had more foragers compared to control colonies fed unadulterated syrup, but treatment did not affect adult bee numbers or average hive temperatures, and did not increase food stores, daily food acquisition or colony survivorship. These results suggest that imidacloprid contamination increased colony metabolism without improving colony productivity, and helps explain why some studies have reported no, or even positive, effects of neonicotinoids. Effect sizes were generally small but that could be attributed at least in part to variability in uncontrolled factors such as weather. We provide an explanation for the diverse effects of pesticide contamination on honey bees, and an improved understanding of how colonies are impacted.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Théotime Colin
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - John J Adamczyk
- Thad Cochran Southern Horticultural Laboratory, USDA-ARS, Poplarville, MS, USA
| | - Milagra Weiss
- Carl Hayden Bee Research Center, USDA-ARS, Tucson, AZ, USA
| | - Andrew B Barron
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia
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17
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Barron AB. Did Prosociality Drive the Evolution of Homosexuality? Response to Luoto (2021). Arch Sex Behav 2021; 50:2781-2783. [PMID: 34327589 DOI: 10.1007/s10508-021-02110-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2021] [Revised: 07/16/2021] [Accepted: 07/19/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Andrew B Barron
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, 2109, Australia.
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18
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Monchanin C, Devaud JM, Barron AB, Lihoreau M. Current permissible levels of metal pollutants harm terrestrial invertebrates. Sci Total Environ 2021; 779:146398. [PMID: 34030224 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.146398] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2020] [Revised: 02/27/2021] [Accepted: 03/06/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
The current decline of invertebrates worldwide is alarming. Several potential causes have been proposed but metal pollutants, while being widespread in the air, soils and water, have so far been largely overlooked. Here, we reviewed the results of 527 observations of the effects of arsenic, cadmium, lead and mercury on terrestrial invertebrates. These four well-studied metals are considered as priorities for public health and for which international regulatory guidelines exist. We found that they all significantly impact the physiology and behavior of invertebrates, even at levels below those recommended as 'safe' for humans. Our results call for a revision of the regulatory thresholds to better protect terrestrial invertebrates, which appear to be more sensitive to metal pollution than vertebrates. More fundamental research on a broader range of compounds and species is needed to improve international guidelines for metal pollutants, and to develop conservation plans to protect invertebrates and ecosystem services.
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Affiliation(s)
- Coline Monchanin
- Research Center on Animal Cognition (CRCA), Center for Integrative Biology (CBI); CNRS, University Paul Sabatier, Toulouse III, France; Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia.
| | - Jean-Marc Devaud
- Research Center on Animal Cognition (CRCA), Center for Integrative Biology (CBI); CNRS, University Paul Sabatier, Toulouse III, France.
| | - Andrew B Barron
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia.
| | - Mathieu Lihoreau
- Research Center on Animal Cognition (CRCA), Center for Integrative Biology (CBI); CNRS, University Paul Sabatier, Toulouse III, France.
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19
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Dubois T, Pasquaretta C, Barron AB, Gautrais J, Lihoreau M. A model of resource partitioning between foraging bees based on learning. PLoS Comput Biol 2021; 17:e1009260. [PMID: 34319987 PMCID: PMC8351995 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1009260] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2021] [Revised: 08/09/2021] [Accepted: 07/07/2021] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Central place foraging pollinators tend to develop multi-destination routes (traplines) to exploit patchily distributed plant resources. While the formation of traplines by individual pollinators has been studied in detail, how populations of foragers use resources in a common area is an open question, difficult to address experimentally. We explored conditions for the emergence of resource partitioning among traplining bees using agent-based models built from experimental data of bumblebees foraging on artificial flowers. In the models, bees learn to develop routes as a consequence of feedback loops that change their probabilities of moving between flowers. While a positive reinforcement of movements leading to rewarding flowers is sufficient for the emergence of resource partitioning when flowers are evenly distributed, the addition of a negative reinforcement of movements leading to unrewarding flowers is necessary when flowers are patchily distributed. In environments with more complex spatial structures, the negative experiences of individual bees on flowers favour spatial segregation and efficient collective foraging. Our study fills a major gap in modelling pollinator behaviour and constitutes a unique tool to guide future experimental programs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thibault Dubois
- Research Centre on Animal Cognition (CRCA), Centre for Integrative Biology (CBI); CNRS, University Paul Sabatier–Toulouse III, Toulouse, France
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
| | - Cristian Pasquaretta
- Research Centre on Animal Cognition (CRCA), Centre for Integrative Biology (CBI); CNRS, University Paul Sabatier–Toulouse III, Toulouse, France
| | - Andrew B. Barron
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
| | - Jacques Gautrais
- Research Centre on Animal Cognition (CRCA), Centre for Integrative Biology (CBI); CNRS, University Paul Sabatier–Toulouse III, Toulouse, France
| | - Mathieu Lihoreau
- Research Centre on Animal Cognition (CRCA), Centre for Integrative Biology (CBI); CNRS, University Paul Sabatier–Toulouse III, Toulouse, France
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20
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Monchanin C, Drujont E, Devaud JM, Lihoreau M, Barron AB. Metal pollutants have additive negative effects on honey bee cognition. J Exp Biol 2021; 224:264933. [PMID: 34002230 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.241869] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2020] [Accepted: 05/07/2021] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Environmental pollutants can exert sublethal deleterious effects on animals. These include disruption of cognitive functions underlying crucial behaviours. While agrochemicals have been identified as a major threat to pollinators, metal pollutants, which are often found in complex mixtures, have so far been overlooked. Here, we assessed the impact of acute exposure to field-realistic concentrations of three common metal pollutants, lead, copper and arsenic, and their combinations, on honey bee appetitive learning and memory. All treatments involving single metals slowed down learning and disrupted memory retrieval at 24 h. Combinations of these metals had additive negative effects on both processes, suggesting common pathways of toxicity. Our results highlight the need to further assess the risks of metal pollution on invertebrates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Coline Monchanin
- Research Center on Animal Cognition (CRCA), Center for Integrative Biology (CBI); CNRS, University Paul Sabatier - Toulouse III, 31062 Toulouse, France.,Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, North Ryde, NSW 2109, Australia
| | - Erwann Drujont
- Research Center on Animal Cognition (CRCA), Center for Integrative Biology (CBI); CNRS, University Paul Sabatier - Toulouse III, 31062 Toulouse, France
| | - Jean-Marc Devaud
- Research Center on Animal Cognition (CRCA), Center for Integrative Biology (CBI); CNRS, University Paul Sabatier - Toulouse III, 31062 Toulouse, France
| | - Mathieu Lihoreau
- Research Center on Animal Cognition (CRCA), Center for Integrative Biology (CBI); CNRS, University Paul Sabatier - Toulouse III, 31062 Toulouse, France
| | - Andrew B Barron
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, North Ryde, NSW 2109, Australia
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21
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Monchanin C, Blanc-Brude A, Drujont E, Negahi MM, Pasquaretta C, Silvestre J, Baqué D, Elger A, Barron AB, Devaud JM, Lihoreau M. Chronic exposure to trace lead impairs honey bee learning. Ecotoxicol Environ Saf 2021; 212:112008. [PMID: 33578129 DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2021.112008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/25/2020] [Revised: 01/26/2021] [Accepted: 01/28/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Pollutants can have severe detrimental effects on insects, even at sublethal doses, damaging developmental and cognitive processes involved in crucial behaviours. Agrochemicals have been identified as important causes of pollinator declines, but the impacts of other anthropogenic compounds, such as metallic trace elements in soils and waters, have received considerably less attention. Here, we exposed colonies of the European honey bee Apis mellifera to chronic field-realistic concentrations of lead in food and demonstrated that consumption of this trace element impaired bee cognition and morphological development. Honey bees exposed to the highest of these low concentrations had reduced olfactory learning performances. These honey bees also developed smaller heads, which may have constrained their cognitive functions as we show a general relationship between head size and learning performance. Our results demonstrate that lead pollutants, even at trace levels, can have dramatic effects on honey bee cognitive abilities, potentially altering key colony functions and the pollination service.
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Affiliation(s)
- Coline Monchanin
- Research Center on Animal Cognition (CRCA), Center for Integrative Biology (CBI); CNRS, University Paul Sabatier - Toulouse III, France; Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, NSW, Australia.
| | - Amaury Blanc-Brude
- Research Center on Animal Cognition (CRCA), Center for Integrative Biology (CBI); CNRS, University Paul Sabatier - Toulouse III, France
| | - Erwann Drujont
- Research Center on Animal Cognition (CRCA), Center for Integrative Biology (CBI); CNRS, University Paul Sabatier - Toulouse III, France
| | - Mohammed Mustafa Negahi
- Research Center on Animal Cognition (CRCA), Center for Integrative Biology (CBI); CNRS, University Paul Sabatier - Toulouse III, France
| | - Cristian Pasquaretta
- Research Center on Animal Cognition (CRCA), Center for Integrative Biology (CBI); CNRS, University Paul Sabatier - Toulouse III, France
| | - Jérôme Silvestre
- EcoLab, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, INPT, UPS, Toulouse, France
| | - David Baqué
- EcoLab, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, INPT, UPS, Toulouse, France
| | - Arnaud Elger
- EcoLab, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, INPT, UPS, Toulouse, France
| | - Andrew B Barron
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, NSW, Australia
| | - Jean-Marc Devaud
- Research Center on Animal Cognition (CRCA), Center for Integrative Biology (CBI); CNRS, University Paul Sabatier - Toulouse III, France
| | - Mathieu Lihoreau
- Research Center on Animal Cognition (CRCA), Center for Integrative Biology (CBI); CNRS, University Paul Sabatier - Toulouse III, France.
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22
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MaBouDi H, Barron AB, Li S, Honkanen M, Loukola OJ, Peng F, Li W, Marshall JAR, Cope A, Vasilaki E, Solvi C. Non-numerical strategies used by bees to solve numerical cognition tasks. Proc Biol Sci 2021; 288:20202711. [PMID: 33593192 PMCID: PMC7934903 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2020.2711] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
We examined how bees solve a visual discrimination task with stimuli commonly used in numerical cognition studies. Bees performed well on the task, but additional tests showed that they had learned continuous (non-numerical) cues. A network model using biologically plausible visual feature filtering and a simple associative rule was capable of learning the task using only continuous cues inherent in the training stimuli, with no numerical processing. This model was also able to reproduce behaviours that have been considered in other studies indicative of numerical cognition. Our results support the idea that a sense of magnitude may be more primitive and basic than a sense of number. Our findings highlight how problematic inadvertent continuous cues can be for studies of numerical cognition. This remains a deep issue within the field that requires increased vigilance and cleverness from the experimenter. We suggest ways of better assessing numerical cognition in non-speaking animals, including assessing the use of all alternative cues in one test, using cross-modal cues, analysing behavioural responses to detect underlying strategies, and finding the neural substrate.
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Affiliation(s)
- HaDi MaBouDi
- Department of Computer Science, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S1 4DP, UK
| | - Andrew B Barron
- Department of Computer Science, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S1 4DP, UK.,Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, North Ryde, New South Wales 2109, Australia
| | - Sun Li
- Department of Psychology, School of Public Health, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China
| | - Maria Honkanen
- Ecology and Genetics Research Unit, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
| | - Olli J Loukola
- Ecology and Genetics Research Unit, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
| | - Fei Peng
- Department of Psychology, School of Public Health, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China
| | - Wenfeng Li
- Guangdong Key Laboratory of Animal Conservation and Resource Utilization, Guangdong Public Laboratory of Wild Animal Conservation and Utilization, Institute of Zoology, Guangdong Academy of Science, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China
| | - James A R Marshall
- Department of Computer Science, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S1 4DP, UK
| | - Alex Cope
- Department of Computer Science, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S1 4DP, UK
| | - Eleni Vasilaki
- Department of Computer Science, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S1 4DP, UK
| | - Cwyn Solvi
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, North Ryde, New South Wales 2109, Australia.,School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London E1 4NS, UK
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23
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Yi Y, Liu YB, Barron AB, Zeng ZJ. Transcriptomic, Morphological, and Developmental Comparison of Adult Honey Bee Queens (Apis mellifera) Reared From Eggs or Worker Larvae of Differing Ages. J Econ Entomol 2020; 113:2581-2587. [PMID: 32865208 DOI: 10.1093/jee/toaa188] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/11/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Queens and workers are very distinct phenotypes that develop from the same genome. Larvae from worker cells up to 3.5 d old can be transferred to larger queen cells and will subsequently be reared as queens and develop into functional queens. This has become a very popular queen rearing practice in contemporary apiculture. Here we used RNA-Seq to study the consequences of rearing queens from transplanted worker larvae on the transcriptome of the adult queens. We found that queens reared from transferred older larvae developed slower, weighted less, and had fewer ovarioles than queens reared from transferred eggs, indicating queens were cryptically intercaste. RNA-Seq analysis revealed differentially expressed genes between queens reared from transferred larvae compared with queens reared from transferred eggs: the older the larvae transferred, the greater the number of differentially expressed genes. Many of the differentially expressed genes had functions related to reproduction, longevity, immunity, or metabolism, suggesting that the health and long-term viability of queens was compromised. Our finds verify the previous studies that adult queens reared from older transferred larvae were of lower quality than queens reared from transferred eggs or younger larvae.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yao Yi
- Honeybee Research Institute, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, Jiangxi, P. R. of China
- The Second Affiliated Hospital of Jiangxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanchang, Jiangxi, P. R. of China
| | - Yi Bo Liu
- Honeybee Research Institute, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, Jiangxi, P. R. of China
| | - Andrew B Barron
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, North Ryde, NSW, Australia
| | - Zhi Jiang Zeng
- Honeybee Research Institute, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, Jiangxi, P. R. of China
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24
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Yi Y, He XJ, Barron AB, Liu YB, Wang ZL, Yan WY, Zeng ZJ. Transgenerational accumulation of methylome changes discovered in commercially reared honey bee (Apis mellifera) queens. Insect Biochem Mol Biol 2020; 127:103476. [PMID: 33053387 DOI: 10.1016/j.ibmb.2020.103476] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2020] [Revised: 09/21/2020] [Accepted: 09/23/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Whether a female honey bee (Apis mellifera) develops into a worker or a queen depends on her nutrition during development, which changes the epigenome to alter the developmental trajectory. Beekeepers typically exploit this developmental plasticity to produce queen bee by transplanting worker larvae into queen cells to be reared as queens, thus redirecting a worker developmental pathway to a queen developmental pathway. We studied the consequences of this manipulation for the queen phenotype and methylome over four generations. Queens reared from worker larvae consistently had fewer ovarioles than queens reared from eggs. Over four generations the methylomes of lines of queens reared from eggs and worker larvae diverged, accumulating increasing differences in exons of genes related to caste differentiation, growth and immunity. We discuss the consequences of these cryptic changes to the honey bee epigenome for the health and viability of honey bee stocks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yao Yi
- Honeybee Research Institute, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, Jiangxi, 330045, PR China; Jiangxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanchang, Jiangxi, 330004, PR China
| | - Xu Jiang He
- Honeybee Research Institute, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, Jiangxi, 330045, PR China
| | - Andrew B Barron
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, North Ryde, NSW, 2109, Australia
| | - Yi Bo Liu
- Honeybee Research Institute, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, Jiangxi, 330045, PR China
| | - Zi Long Wang
- Honeybee Research Institute, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, Jiangxi, 330045, PR China
| | - Wei Yu Yan
- Honeybee Research Institute, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, Jiangxi, 330045, PR China
| | - Zhi Jiang Zeng
- Honeybee Research Institute, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, Jiangxi, 330045, PR China.
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25
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Barron AB. Response to Luoto's (2020) "Did Prosociality Drive the Evolution of Homosexuality?". Arch Sex Behav 2020; 49:2245-2246. [PMID: 32770281 DOI: 10.1007/s10508-020-01812-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2020] [Revised: 07/24/2020] [Accepted: 07/27/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Andrew B Barron
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, 2109, Australia.
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26
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Abstract
Honeybees forage on diverse flowers which vary in the amount and type of rewards they offer, and bees are challenged with maximizing the resources they gather for their colony. That bees are effective foragers is clear, but how bees solve this type of complex multi-choice task is unknown. Here, we set bees a five-comparison choice task in which five colours differed in their probability of offering reward and punishment. The colours were ranked such that high ranked colours were more likely to offer reward, and the ranking was unambiguous. Bees' choices in unrewarded tests matched their individual experiences of reward and punishment of each colour, indicating bees solved this test not by comparing or ranking colours but by basing their colour choices on their history of reinforcement for each colour. Computational modelling suggests a structure like the honeybee mushroom body with reinforcement-related plasticity at both input and output can be sufficient for this cognitive strategy. We discuss how probability matching enables effective choices to be made without a need to compare any stimuli directly, and the use and limitations of this simple cognitive strategy for foraging animals.
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Affiliation(s)
- HaDi MaBouDi
- Department of Computer Science, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
| | | | - Andrew B Barron
- Department of Computer Science, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK.,Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, North Ryde, Sydney, Australia
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27
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Kamhi JF, Barron AB, Narendra A. Vertical Lobes of the Mushroom Bodies Are Essential for View-Based Navigation in Australian Myrmecia Ants. Curr Biol 2020; 30:3432-3437.e3. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2020.06.030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2020] [Revised: 05/21/2020] [Accepted: 06/08/2020] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
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28
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Klein C, Barron AB. How experimental neuroscientists can fix the hard problem of consciousness. Neurosci Conscious 2020; 2020:niaa009. [PMID: 32695476 PMCID: PMC7362610 DOI: 10.1093/nc/niaa009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2019] [Revised: 03/30/2020] [Accepted: 04/04/2020] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
For the materialist, the hard problem is fundamentally an explanatory problem. Solving it requires explaining why the relationship between brain and experience is the way it is and not some other way. We use the tools of the interventionist theory of explanation to show how a systematic experimental project could help move beyond the hard problem. Key to this project is the development of second-order interventions and invariant generalizations. Such interventions played a crucial scientific role in untangling other scientific mysteries, and we suggest that the same will be true of consciousness. We further suggest that the capacity for safe and reliable self-intervention will play a key role in overcoming both the hard and meta-problems of consciousness. Finally, we evaluate current strategies for intervention, with an eye to how they might be improved.
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Affiliation(s)
- Colin Klein
- School of Philosophy, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia
| | - Andrew B Barron
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, North Ryde, NSW 2109, Australia
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Chancan M, Hernandez-Nunez L, Narendra A, Barron AB, Milford M. A Hybrid Compact Neural Architecture for Visual Place Recognition. IEEE Robot Autom Lett 2020. [DOI: 10.1109/lra.2020.2967324] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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30
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Barron AB, Hare B. Prosociality and a Sociosexual Hypothesis for the Evolution of Same-Sex Attraction in Humans. Front Psychol 2020; 10:2955. [PMID: 32010022 PMCID: PMC6976918 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02955] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/11/2019] [Accepted: 12/12/2019] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Human same-sex sexual attraction (SSSA) has long been considered to be an evolutionary puzzle. The trait is clearly biological: it is widespread and has a strong additive genetic basis, but how SSSA has evolved remains a subject of debate. Of itself, homosexual sexual behavior will not yield offspring, and consequently individuals expressing strong SSSA that are mostly or exclusively homosexual are presumed to have lower fitness and reproductive success. How then did the trait evolve, and how is it maintained in populations? Here we develop a novel argument for the evolution of SSSA that focuses on the likely adaptive social consequences of SSSA. We argue that same sex sexual attraction evolved as just one of a suite of traits responding to strong selection for ease of social integration or prosocial behavior. A strong driver of recent human behavioral evolution has been selection for reduced reactive aggression, increased social affiliation, social communication, and ease of social integration. In many prosocial mammals sex has adopted new social functions in contexts of social bonding, social reinforcement, appeasement, and play. We argue that for humans the social functions and benefits of sex apply to same-sex sexual behavior as well as heterosexual behavior. As a consequence we propose a degree of SSSA, was selected for in recent human evolution for its non-conceptive social benefits. We discuss how this hypothesis provides a better explanation for human sexual attractions and behavior than theories that invoke sexual inversion or single-locus genetic models.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew B. Barron
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Brian Hare
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Center for Cognitive Science, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
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31
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Colin T, Meikle WG, Paten AM, Barron AB. Long-term dynamics of honey bee colonies following exposure to chemical stress. Sci Total Environ 2019; 677:660-670. [PMID: 31071668 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.04.402] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2019] [Revised: 04/24/2019] [Accepted: 04/26/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Pesticide residues have been linked to reduced bee health and increased honey bee colony failure. Most research to date has investigated the role of pesticides on individual honey bees, and it is still unclear how trace levels of pesticides change colony viability and productivity over seasonal time scales. To address this question we exposed standard bee colonies to chemical stressors known to have negative effects on individual bees, and measured the productivity of bee colonies across a whole year in two environments: near Tucson Arizona and Sydney Australia. We exposed hives to a trace amount of the neonicotinoid imidacloprid and to the acaricide thymol, and measured capped brood, bee and honey production, as well as the temperature and foraging force of the colonies. The effect of imidacloprid on colony dynamics differed between the two environments. In Tucson we recorded a positive effect of imidacloprid treatment on bee and brood numbers. Thymol was associated with short-term negative effects on bee numbers at both locations, and may have affected colony survival at one location. The overall benefits of thymol for the colonies were unclear. We conclude that long-term and colony-level measures of the effects of agrochemicals are needed to properly understand risks to bees.
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Affiliation(s)
- Théotime Colin
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
| | - William G Meikle
- Carl Hayden Bee Research Center, USDA-ARS, Tucson, AZ, United States of America
| | - Amy M Paten
- Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Canberra, ACT, Australia
| | - Andrew B Barron
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia
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32
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Colin T, Meikle WG, Wu X, Barron AB. Traces of a Neonicotinoid Induce Precocious Foraging and Reduce Foraging Performance in Honey Bees. Environ Sci Technol 2019; 53:8252-8261. [PMID: 31257879 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.9b02452] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
There is increasing worldwide concern about the impacts of pesticide residues on honey bees and bee colony survival, but how sublethal effects of pesticides on bees might cause colony failure remains highly controversial, with field data giving very mixed results. To explore how trace levels of the neonicotinoid pesticide imidacloprid impacted colony foraging performance, we equipped bees with RFID tags that allowed us to track their lifetime flight behavior. One group of bees was exposed to a trace concentration (5 μg/kg, ppb) of imidacloprid in sugar syrup while in the larval stage. The imidacloprid residues caused bees to start foraging when younger as adults and perform fewer orientation flights, and reduced their lifetime foraging flights by 28%. The magnitude of the effects of a trace imidacloprid concentration delivered only during larval stage highlights the severity of pesticide residues for bee foraging performance. Our data suggest that neonicotinoids could impact colony function by imbalancing the normal age based division of labor in a colony and reducing foraging efficiency. Understanding this mechanism will help the development of interventions to safeguard bee colony health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Théotime Colin
- Department of Biological Sciences , Macquarie University , Sydney , New South Wales 2109 , Australia
| | - William G Meikle
- Carl Hayden Bee Research Center, USDA-ARS , Tucson , Arizona 85719 , United States of America
| | - Xiaobo Wu
- Honeybee Research Institute , Jiangxi Agricultural University , Nanchang , Jiangxi 330029 , China
| | - Andrew B Barron
- Department of Biological Sciences , Macquarie University , Sydney , New South Wales 2109 , Australia
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33
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Wei H, He XJ, Liao CH, Wu XB, Jiang WJ, Zhang B, Zhou LB, Zhang LZ, Barron AB, Zeng ZJ. A Maternal Effect on Queen Production in Honeybees. Curr Biol 2019; 29:2208-2213.e3. [PMID: 31231048 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2019.05.059] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2017] [Revised: 08/24/2018] [Accepted: 05/23/2019] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
Influences from the mother on offspring phenotype, known as maternal effects, are an important cause of adaptive phenotypic plasticity [1, 2]. Eusocial insects show dramatic phenotypic plasticity with morphologically distinct reproductive (queen) and worker castes [3, 4]. The dominant paradigm for honeybees (Apis mellifera) is that castes are environmentally rather than genetically determined, with the environment and diet of young larvae causing caste differentiation [5-9]. A role for maternal effects has not been considered, but here we show that egg size also influences queen development. Queens laid significantly bigger eggs in the larger queen cells than in the worker cells. Eggs laid in queen cells (QE), laid in worker cells (WE), and 2-day old larvae from worker cells (2L) were transferred to artificial queen cells to be reared as queens in a standardized environment. Newly emerged adult queens from QE were heavier than those from the other two groups and had more ovarioles, indicating a consequence of egg size for adult queen morphology. Gene expression analyses identified several significantly differentially expressed genes between newly emerged queens from QE and those from the other groups. These included a disproportionate number of genes involved in hormonal signaling, body development, and immune pathways, which are key traits differing between queens and workers. That egg size influences emerging queen morphology and physiology and that queens lay larger eggs in queen cells demonstrate both a maternal effect on the expression of the queen phenotype and a more active role for the queen in gyne production than has been realized previously.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hao Wei
- Honeybee Research Institute, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, Jiangxi 330045, P.R. of China
| | - Xu Jiang He
- Honeybee Research Institute, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, Jiangxi 330045, P.R. of China
| | - Chun Hua Liao
- Honeybee Research Institute, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, Jiangxi 330045, P.R. of China
| | - Xiao Bo Wu
- Honeybee Research Institute, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, Jiangxi 330045, P.R. of China
| | - Wu Jun Jiang
- Honeybee Research Institute, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, Jiangxi 330045, P.R. of China
| | - Bo Zhang
- Honeybee Research Institute, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, Jiangxi 330045, P.R. of China
| | - Lin Bin Zhou
- Honeybee Research Institute, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, Jiangxi 330045, P.R. of China
| | - Li Zhen Zhang
- Honeybee Research Institute, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, Jiangxi 330045, P.R. of China
| | - Andrew B Barron
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, North Ryde, NSW 2109, Australia
| | - Zhi Jiang Zeng
- Honeybee Research Institute, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, Jiangxi 330045, P.R. of China.
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34
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He XJ, Jiang WJ, Zhou M, Barron AB, Zeng ZJ. A comparison of honeybee (Apis mellifera) queen, worker and drone larvae by RNA-Seq. Insect Sci 2019; 26:499-509. [PMID: 29110379 DOI: 10.1111/1744-7917.12557] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2017] [Revised: 09/08/2017] [Accepted: 09/28/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Honeybees (Apis mellifera) have haplodiploid sex determination: males develop from unfertilized eggs and females develop from fertilized ones. The differences in larval food also determine the development of females. Here we compared the total somatic gene expression profiles of 2-day and 4-day-old drone, queen and worker larvae by RNA-Seq. The results from a co-expression network analysis on all expressed genes showed that 2-day-old drone and worker larvae were closer in gene expression profiles than 2-day-old queen larvae. This indicated that for young larvae (2-day-old) environmental factors such as larval diet have a greater effect on gene expression profiles than ploidy or sex determination. Drones had the most distinct gene expression profiles at the 4-day larval stage, suggesting that haploidy, or sex dramatically affects the gene expression of honeybee larvae. Drone larvae showed fewer differences in gene expression profiles at the 2-day and 4-day time points than the worker and queen larval comparisons (598 against 1190 and 1181), suggesting a different pattern of gene expression regulation during the larval development of haploid males compared to diploid females. This study indicates that early in development the queen caste has the most distinct gene expression profile, perhaps reflecting the very rapid growth and morphological specialization of this caste compared to workers and drones. Later in development the haploid male drones have the most distinct gene expression profile, perhaps reflecting the influence of ploidy or sex determination on gene expression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xu-Jiang He
- Honeybee Research Institute, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, China
| | - Wu-Jun Jiang
- Honeybee Research Institute, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, China
| | - Mi Zhou
- Biomarker Technologies Co., Ltd., Beijing, China
| | - Andrew B Barron
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, North Ryde, NSW, Australia
| | - Zhi-Jiang Zeng
- Honeybee Research Institute, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, China
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35
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Nouvian M, Mandal S, Jamme C, Claudianos C, d'Ettorre P, Reinhard J, Barron AB, Giurfa M. Cooperative defence operates by social modulation of biogenic amine levels in the honey bee brain. Proc Biol Sci 2019; 285:rspb.2017.2653. [PMID: 29367399 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2017.2653] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/28/2017] [Accepted: 12/22/2017] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
The defence of a society often requires that some specialized members coordinate to repel a threat at personal risk. This is especially true for honey bee guards, which defend the hive and may sacrifice their lives upon stinging. Central to this cooperative defensive response is the sting alarm pheromone, which has isoamyl acetate (IAA) as its main component. Although this defensive behaviour has been well described, the neural mechanisms triggered by IAA to coordinate stinging have long remained unknown. Here we show that IAA upregulates brain levels of serotonin and dopamine, thereby increasing the likelihood of an individual bee to attack and sting. Pharmacological enhancement of the levels of both amines induces higher defensive responsiveness, while decreasing them via antagonists decreases stinging. Our results thus uncover the neural mechanism by which an alarm pheromone recruits individuals to attack and repel a threat, and suggest that the alarm pheromone of honey bees acts on their response threshold rather than as a direct trigger.
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Affiliation(s)
- Morgane Nouvian
- Centre de Recherches sur la Cognition Animale, Centre de Biologie Intégrative (CBI), Université́ de Toulouse, CNRS, UPS, 31062 Toulouse cedex 9, France .,Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Souvik Mandal
- Centre de Recherches sur la Cognition Animale, Centre de Biologie Intégrative (CBI), Université́ de Toulouse, CNRS, UPS, 31062 Toulouse cedex 9, France
| | - Charlène Jamme
- Centre de Recherches sur la Cognition Animale, Centre de Biologie Intégrative (CBI), Université́ de Toulouse, CNRS, UPS, 31062 Toulouse cedex 9, France
| | - Charles Claudianos
- School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria 3600, Australia
| | - Patrizia d'Ettorre
- Laboratory of Experimental and Comparative Ethology, University of Paris 13, Sorbonne Paris Cité, 93430 Villetaneuse, France
| | - Judith Reinhard
- Centre de Recherches sur la Cognition Animale, Centre de Biologie Intégrative (CBI), Université́ de Toulouse, CNRS, UPS, 31062 Toulouse cedex 9, France
| | - Andrew B Barron
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales 2109, Australia
| | - Martin Giurfa
- Centre de Recherches sur la Cognition Animale, Centre de Biologie Intégrative (CBI), Université́ de Toulouse, CNRS, UPS, 31062 Toulouse cedex 9, France
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36
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Hewlett SE, Delahunt Smoleniec JD, Wareham DM, Pyne TM, Barron AB. Biogenic amine modulation of honey bee sociability and nestmate affiliation. PLoS One 2018; 13:e0205686. [PMID: 30359390 PMCID: PMC6201892 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0205686] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2018] [Accepted: 09/28/2018] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Biogenic amines modulate a range of social behaviours, including sociability and mechanisms of group cohesion, in both vertebrates and invertebrates. Here, we tested if the biogenic amines modulate honey bee (Apis mellifera) sociability and nestmate affiliation. We examined the consequences of treatments with biogenic amines, agonists and antagonists on a bee’s approach to, and subsequent social interactions with, conspecifics in both naturally hive-reared bees and isolated bees. We used two different treatment methods. Bees were first treated topically with compounds dissolved in the solvent dimethylformamide (dMF) applied to the dorsal thorax, but dMF had a significant effect on the locomotion and behaviour of the bees during the behavioural test that interfered with their social responses. Our second method used microinjection to deliver biogenic amines to the head capsule via the ocellar tract. Microinjection of dopamine and a dopamine antagonist had strong effects on bee sociability, likelihood of interaction with bees, and nestmate affiliation. Octopamine treatment reduced social interaction with other bees, and serotonin increased the likelihood of social interactions. HPLC measurements showed that isolation reduced brain levels of biogenic amines compared to hive-reared bees. Our findings suggest that dopamine is an important neurochemical component of social motivation in bees. This finding advances a comparative understanding of the processes of social evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Susie E. Hewlett
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- * E-mail: (SH); (AB)
| | | | - Deborah M. Wareham
- Department of Health Professions, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Thomas M. Pyne
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Andrew B. Barron
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- * E-mail: (SH); (AB)
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37
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Colin T, Bruce J, Meikle WG, Barron AB. The development of honey bee colonies assessed using a new semi-automated brood counting method: CombCount. PLoS One 2018; 13:e0205816. [PMID: 30325960 PMCID: PMC6191133 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0205816] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2018] [Accepted: 10/02/2018] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Precise, objective data on brood and honey levels in honey bee colonies can be obtained through the analysis of hive frame photographs. However, accurate analysis of all the frame photographs from medium- to large-scale experiments is time-consuming. This limits the number of hives than can be practically included in honeybee studies. Faster estimation methods exist but they significantly decrease precision and their use requires a larger sample size to maintain statistical power. To resolve this issue, we created 'CombCount' a python program that automatically detects uncapped cells to speed up measurements of capped brood and capped honey on photos of frames. CombCount does not require programming skills, it was designed to facilitate colony-level research in honeybees and to provide a fast, free, and accurate alternative to older methods based on visual estimations. Six observers measured the same photos of thirty different frames both with CombCount and by manually outlining the entire capped areas with ImageJ. The results obtained were highly similar between both the observers and the two methods, but measurements with CombCount were 3.2 times faster than with ImageJ (4 and 13 min per side of the frame, respectively) and all observers were faster when using CombCount rather than ImageJ. CombCount was used to measure the proportions of capped brood and capped honey on each frame of 16 hives over a year as they developed from packages to full-size colonies over about 60 days. Our data describe the formation of brood and honey stores during the establishment of a new colony.
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Affiliation(s)
- Théotime Colin
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Jake Bruce
- School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia
| | - William G. Meikle
- Carl Hayden Bee Research Center, USDA-ARS, Tucson, Arizona, United States of America
| | - Andrew B. Barron
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
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38
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Cope AJ, Vasilaki E, Minors D, Sabo C, Marshall JAR, Barron AB. Abstract concept learning in a simple neural network inspired by the insect brain. PLoS Comput Biol 2018; 14:e1006435. [PMID: 30222735 PMCID: PMC6160224 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1006435] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2018] [Revised: 09/27/2018] [Accepted: 08/15/2018] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The capacity to learn abstract concepts such as 'sameness' and 'difference' is considered a higher-order cognitive function, typically thought to be dependent on top-down neocortical processing. It is therefore surprising that honey bees apparantly have this capacity. Here we report a model of the structures of the honey bee brain that can learn sameness and difference, as well as a range of complex and simple associative learning tasks. Our model is constrained by the known connections and properties of the mushroom body, including the protocerebral tract, and provides a good fit to the learning rates and performances of real bees in all tasks, including learning sameness and difference. The model proposes a novel mechanism for learning the abstract concepts of 'sameness' and 'difference' that is compatible with the insect brain, and is not dependent on top-down or executive control processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alex J. Cope
- Department of Computer Science, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
- Sheffield Robotics, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
| | - Eleni Vasilaki
- Department of Computer Science, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
- Sheffield Robotics, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
| | - Dorian Minors
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
| | - Chelsea Sabo
- Department of Computer Science, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
- Sheffield Robotics, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
| | - James A. R. Marshall
- Department of Computer Science, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
- Sheffield Robotics, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
| | - Andrew B. Barron
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
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39
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Liao CH, He XJ, Wang ZL, Barron AB, Zhang B, Zeng ZJ, Wu XB. Short-Term Exposure to Lambda-Cyhalothrin Negatively Affects the Survival and Memory-Related Characteristics of Worker Bees Apis mellifera. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 2018; 75:59-65. [PMID: 29423537 DOI: 10.1007/s00244-018-0514-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2017] [Accepted: 01/30/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Pesticides are considered one of the major contemporary stressors of honey bee health. In this study, the effects of short-term exposure to lambda-cyhalothrin on lifespan, learning, and memory-related characteristics of Apis mellifera were systematically examined. Short-term exposure to lambda-cyhalothrin in worker bees reduced lifespan, affected learning and memory performance, reduced the homing ability, and influenced the expression levels of two learning and memory-related genes of A. mellifera. This research identifies the nature of the sublethal effects of lambda-cyhalothrin on bees and the level of exposure that can be harmful to bee health. This new information will assist in establishing guidelines for the safe use of lambda-cyhalothrin in the field.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chun-Hua Liao
- Honeybee Research Institute, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, 330045, China
| | - Xu-Jiang He
- Honeybee Research Institute, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, 330045, China
| | - Zi-Long Wang
- Honeybee Research Institute, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, 330045, China
| | - Andrew B Barron
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, 2109, Australia
| | - Bo Zhang
- Honeybee Research Institute, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, 330045, China
| | - Zhi-Jiang Zeng
- Honeybee Research Institute, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, 330045, China
| | - Xiao-Bo Wu
- Honeybee Research Institute, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, 330045, China.
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40
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Meikle WG, Holst N, Colin T, Weiss M, Carroll MJ, McFrederick QS, Barron AB. Using within-day hive weight changes to measure environmental effects on honey bee colonies. PLoS One 2018; 13:e0197589. [PMID: 29791462 PMCID: PMC5965838 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0197589] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/08/2018] [Accepted: 05/06/2018] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Patterns in within-day hive weight data from two independent datasets in Arizona and California were modeled using piecewise regression, and analyzed with respect to honey bee colony behavior and landscape effects. The regression analysis yielded information on the start and finish of a colony’s daily activity cycle, hive weight change at night, hive weight loss due to departing foragers and weight gain due to returning foragers. Assumptions about the meaning of the timing and size of the morning weight changes were tested in a third study by delaying the forager departure times from one to three hours using screen entrance gates. A regression of planned vs. observed departure delays showed that the initial hive weight loss around dawn was largely due to foragers. In a similar experiment in Australia, hive weight loss due to departing foragers in the morning was correlated with net bee traffic (difference between the number of departing bees and the number of arriving bees) and from those data the payload of the arriving bees was estimated to be 0.02 g. The piecewise regression approach was then used to analyze a fifth study involving hives with and without access to natural forage. The analysis showed that, during a commercial pollination event, hives with previous access to forage had a significantly higher rate of weight gain as the foragers returned in the afternoon, and, in the weeks after the pollination event, a significantly higher rate of weight loss in the morning, as foragers departed. This combination of continuous weight data and piecewise regression proved effective in detecting treatment differences in foraging activity that other methods failed to detect.
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Affiliation(s)
- William G. Meikle
- Carl Hayden Bee Research Center, USDA-ARS, Tucson, AZ, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| | - Niels Holst
- Dept. of Agroecology, Aarhus University, Forsøgsvej 1, Slagelse, Denmark
| | - Théotime Colin
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Milagra Weiss
- Carl Hayden Bee Research Center, USDA-ARS, Tucson, AZ, United States of America
| | - Mark J. Carroll
- Carl Hayden Bee Research Center, USDA-ARS, Tucson, AZ, United States of America
| | - Quinn S. McFrederick
- Department of Entomology, University of California, Riverside, CA, United States of America
| | - Andrew B. Barron
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
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41
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Cabirol A, Cope AJ, Barron AB, Devaud JM. Relationship between brain plasticity, learning and foraging performance in honey bees. PLoS One 2018; 13:e0196749. [PMID: 29709023 PMCID: PMC5927457 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0196749] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2018] [Accepted: 04/18/2018] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Brain structure and learning capacities both vary with experience, but the mechanistic link between them is unclear. Here, we investigated whether experience-dependent variability in learning performance can be explained by neuroplasticity in foraging honey bees. The mushroom bodies (MBs) are a brain center necessary for ambiguous olfactory learning tasks such as reversal learning. Using radio frequency identification technology, we assessed the effects of natural variation in foraging activity, and the age when first foraging, on both performance in reversal learning and on synaptic connectivity in the MBs. We found that reversal learning performance improved at foraging onset and could decline with greater foraging experience. If bees started foraging before the normal age, as a result of a stress applied to the colony, the decline in learning performance with foraging experience was more severe. Analyses of brain structure in the same bees showed that the total number of synaptic boutons at the MB input decreased when bees started foraging, and then increased with greater foraging intensity. At foraging onset MB structure is therefore optimized for bees to update learned information, but optimization of MB connectivity deteriorates with foraging effort. In a computational model of the MBs sparser coding of information at the MB input improved reversal learning performance. We propose, therefore, a plausible mechanistic relationship between experience, neuroplasticity, and cognitive performance in a natural and ecological context.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amélie Cabirol
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, North Ryde, NSW, Australia
- Research Center on Animal Cognition, Center for Integrative Biology, Toulouse University, CNRS, UPS, Toulouse, France
- * E-mail: (AC); (ABB)
| | - Alex J. Cope
- Department of Computer Science, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, United Kingdom
| | - Andrew B. Barron
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, North Ryde, NSW, Australia
- * E-mail: (AC); (ABB)
| | - Jean-Marc Devaud
- Research Center on Animal Cognition, Center for Integrative Biology, Toulouse University, CNRS, UPS, Toulouse, France
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Bordier C, Klein S, Le Conte Y, Barron AB, Alaux C. Stress decreases pollen foraging performance in honeybees. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2018; 221:jeb.171470. [PMID: 29361592 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.171470] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2017] [Accepted: 01/02/2018] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Foraging in honeybees is energetically demanding. Here, we examined whether stressors, which generally increase metabolic demands, can impair foraging performance. A controlled non-pathogenic stressor (immune challenge) resulted in a change in the foraging preferences of bees. It reduced pollen foraging and increased the duration of trips in pollen foragers. Stress also reduced the amount of octopamine in the brain of pollen foragers (a biogenic amine involved in the regulation of foraging and flight behaviour in insects). According to the literature, flight metabolic rate is higher during pollen foraging than during nectar foraging, and nectar gives a higher energetic return relative to the foraging effort when compared with pollen. We thus propose that stress might be particularly detrimental to the performance of pollen foragers, and stressed bees prefer the energy-rich resource of nectar. In conclusion, stress, even at low levels, could have consequences for bee foraging behaviour and thereby the nutritional balance of the colony.
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Affiliation(s)
- Célia Bordier
- INRA, UR 406 Abeilles et Environnement, 84914 Avignon, France
| | - Simon Klein
- Research Center on Animal Cognition, Center for Integrative Biology, National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), University Paul Sabatier (UPS), 31062 Toulouse, France.,Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, North Ryde, NSW 2109, Australia
| | - Yves Le Conte
- INRA, UR 406 Abeilles et Environnement, 84914 Avignon, France
| | - Andrew B Barron
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, North Ryde, NSW 2109, Australia
| | - Cédric Alaux
- INRA, UR 406 Abeilles et Environnement, 84914 Avignon, France
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Hewlett SE, Wareham DM, Barron AB. Honey bee ( Apis mellifera) sociability and nestmate affiliation are dependent on the social environment experienced post-eclosion. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2018; 221:jeb.173054. [PMID: 29361601 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.173054] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2017] [Accepted: 12/13/2017] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
Underpinning the formation of a social group is the motivation of individuals to aggregate and interact with conspecifics, termed sociability. Here, we developed an assay, inspired by vertebrate approaches to evaluate social behaviours, to simultaneously examine the development of honey bee (Apis mellifera) sociability and nestmate affiliation. Focal bees were placed in a testing chamber which was separated from groups of nestmates and conspecific non-nestmates by single-layer mesh screens. Assessing how much time bees spent contacting the two mesh screens allowed us to quantify simultaneously how much bees sought proximity and interaction with other bees and their preference for nestmates over non-nestmates. Both sociability and nestmate affiliation could be detected soon after emergence as an adult. Isolation early in adult life impaired honey bee sociability but there was no evidence for a critical period for the development of the trait, as isolated bees exposed to their hive for 24 h when as old as 6 days still recovered high levels of sociability. Our data show that, even for advanced social insects, sociability is a developmental phenomenon and experience dependent.
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Affiliation(s)
- Susie E Hewlett
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
| | - Deborah M Wareham
- Department of Health Professions, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
| | - Andrew B Barron
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
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Søvik E, Berthier P, Klare WP, Helliwell P, Buckle ELS, Plath JA, Barron AB, Maleszka R. Cocaine Directly Impairs Memory Extinction and Alters Brain DNA Methylation Dynamics in Honey Bees. Front Physiol 2018; 9:79. [PMID: 29487536 PMCID: PMC5816933 DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2018.00079] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2017] [Accepted: 01/22/2018] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Drug addiction is a chronic relapsing behavioral disorder. The high relapse rate has often been attributed to the perseverance of drug-associated memories due to high incentive salience of stimuli learnt under the influence of drugs. Drug addiction has also been interpreted as a memory disorder since drug associated memories are unusually enduring and some drugs, such as cocaine, interfere with neuroepigenetic machinery known to be involved in memory processing. Here we used the honey bee (an established invertebrate model for epigenomics and behavioral studies) to examine whether or not cocaine affects memory processing independently of its effect on incentive salience. Using the proboscis extension reflex training paradigm we found that cocaine strongly impairs consolidation of extinction memory. Based on correlation between the observed effect of cocaine on learning and expression of epigenetic processes, we propose that cocaine interferes with memory processing independently of incentive salience by directly altering DNA methylation dynamics. Our findings emphasize the impact of cocaine on memory systems, with relevance for understanding how cocaine can have such an enduring impact on behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eirik Søvik
- Department of Science and Mathematics, Volda University College, Volda, Norway
| | - Pauline Berthier
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - William P Klare
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Paul Helliwell
- Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
| | - Edwina L S Buckle
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Jenny A Plath
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Andrew B Barron
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Ryszard Maleszka
- Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
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Abstract
ABSTRACT
Honey bee dance has been intensively studied as a communication system, and yet we still know very little about the neurobiological mechanisms supporting how dances are produced and interpreted. Here, we discuss how new information on the functions of the central complex (CX) of the insect brain might shed some light on possible neural mechanisms of dance behaviour. We summarise the features of dance communication across the species of the genus Apis. We then propose that neural mechanisms of orientation and spatial processing found to be supported by the CX may function in dance communication also, and that this mechanistic link could explain some specific features of the dance form. This is purely a hypothesis, but in proposing this hypothesis, and how it might be investigated, we hope to stimulate new mechanistic analyses of dance communication.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew B. Barron
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
| | - Jenny Aino Plath
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, 78464 Konstanz, Germany
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Cabirol A, Brooks R, Groh C, Barron AB, Devaud JM. Experience during early adulthood shapes the learning capacities and the number of synaptic boutons in the mushroom bodies of honey bees ( Apis mellifera). ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2017; 24:557-562. [PMID: 28916631 PMCID: PMC5602345 DOI: 10.1101/lm.045492.117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2017] [Accepted: 07/05/2017] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
The honey bee mushroom bodies (MBs) are brain centers required for specific learning tasks. Here, we show that environmental conditions experienced as young adults affect the maturation of MB neuropil and performance in a MB-dependent learning task. Specifically, olfactory reversal learning was selectively impaired following early exposure to an impoverished environment lacking some of the sensory and social interactions present in the hive. In parallel, the overall number of synaptic boutons increased within the MB olfactory neuropil, whose volume remained unaffected. This suggests that experience of the rich in-hive environment promotes MB maturation and the development of MB-dependent learning capacities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amélie Cabirol
- Center for Integrative Biology (CBI), Toulouse University, CNRS, UPS, Toulouse 31062 France.,Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, North Ryde, New South Wales 2109, Australia
| | - Rufus Brooks
- Center for Integrative Biology (CBI), Toulouse University, CNRS, UPS, Toulouse 31062 France
| | - Claudia Groh
- Department of Behavioral Physiology and Sociobiology, University of Würzburg, Biozentrum, Am Hubland, 97074 Würzburg, Germany
| | - Andrew B Barron
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, North Ryde, New South Wales 2109, Australia
| | - Jean-Marc Devaud
- Center for Integrative Biology (CBI), Toulouse University, CNRS, UPS, Toulouse 31062 France
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Scheiner R, Entler BV, Barron AB, Scholl C, Thamm M. The Effects of Fat Body Tyramine Level on Gustatory Responsiveness of Honeybees ( Apis mellifera) Differ between Behavioral Castes. Front Syst Neurosci 2017; 11:55. [PMID: 28848405 PMCID: PMC5550709 DOI: 10.3389/fnsys.2017.00055] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/10/2017] [Accepted: 07/17/2017] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Division of labor is a hallmark of social insects. In the honeybee (Apis mellifera) each sterile female worker performs a series of social tasks. The most drastic changes in behavior occur when a nurse bee, who takes care of the brood and the queen in the hive, transitions to foraging behavior. Foragers provision the colony with pollen, nectar or water. Nurse bees and foragers differ in numerous behaviors, including responsiveness to gustatory stimuli. Differences in gustatory responsiveness, in turn, might be involved in regulating division of labor through differential sensory response thresholds. Biogenic amines are important modulators of behavior. Tyramine and octopamine have been shown to increase gustatory responsiveness in honeybees when injected into the thorax, thereby possibly triggering social organization. So far, most of the experiments investigating the role of amines on gustatory responsiveness have focused on the brain. The potential role of the fat body in regulating sensory responsiveness and division of labor has large been neglected. We here investigated the role of the fat body in modulating gustatory responsiveness through tyramine signaling in different social roles of honeybees. We quantified levels of tyramine, tyramine receptor gene expression and the effect of elevating fat body tyramine titers on gustatory responsiveness in both nurse bees and foragers. Our data suggest that elevating the tyramine titer in the fat body pharmacologically increases gustatory responsiveness in foragers, but not in nurse bees. This differential effect of tyramine on gustatory responsiveness correlates with a higher natural gustatory responsiveness of foragers, with a higher tyramine receptor (Amtar1) mRNA expression in fat bodies of foragers and with lower baseline tyramine titers in fat bodies of foragers compared to those of nurse bees. We suggest that differential tyramine signaling in the fat body has an important role in the plasticity of division of labor through changing gustatory responsiveness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ricarda Scheiner
- Behavioral Physiology and Sociobiology, Biocenter, University of WürzburgWürzburg, Germany
| | - Brian V Entler
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie UniversitySydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Andrew B Barron
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie UniversitySydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Christina Scholl
- Behavioral Physiology and Sociobiology, Biocenter, University of WürzburgWürzburg, Germany
| | - Markus Thamm
- Behavioral Physiology and Sociobiology, Biocenter, University of WürzburgWürzburg, Germany
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Klein S, Pasquaretta C, Barron AB, Devaud JM, Lihoreau M. Inter-individual variability in the foraging behaviour of traplining bumblebees. Sci Rep 2017; 7:4561. [PMID: 28676725 PMCID: PMC5496863 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-04919-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2017] [Accepted: 05/22/2017] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Workers of social insects, such as bees, ants and wasps, show some degree of inter-individual variability in decision-making, learning and memory. Whether these natural cognitive differences translate into distinct adaptive behavioural strategies is virtually unknown. Here we examined variability in the movement patterns of bumblebee foragers establishing routes between artificial flowers. We recorded all flower visitation sequences performed by 29 bees tested for 20 consecutive foraging bouts in three experimental arrays, each characterised by a unique spatial configuration of artificial flowers and three-dimensional landmarks. All bees started to develop efficient routes as they accumulated foraging experience in each array, and showed consistent inter-individual differences in their levels of route fidelity and foraging performance, as measured by travel speed and the frequency of revisits to flowers. While the tendency of bees to repeat the same route was influenced by their colony origin, foraging performance was correlated to body size. The largest foragers travelled faster and made less revisits to empty flowers. We discuss the possible adaptive value of such inter-individual variability within the forager caste for optimisation of colony-level foraging performances in social pollinators.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simon Klein
- Research Center on Animal Cognition, Center for Integrative Biology, National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), University of Toulouse (UPS), Toulouse, France. .,Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
| | - Cristian Pasquaretta
- Research Center on Animal Cognition, Center for Integrative Biology, National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), University of Toulouse (UPS), Toulouse, France
| | - Andrew B Barron
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Jean-Marc Devaud
- Research Center on Animal Cognition, Center for Integrative Biology, National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), University of Toulouse (UPS), Toulouse, France
| | - Mathieu Lihoreau
- Research Center on Animal Cognition, Center for Integrative Biology, National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), University of Toulouse (UPS), Toulouse, France
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50
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Plath JA, Entler BV, Kirkerud NH, Schlegel U, Galizia CG, Barron AB. Different Roles for Honey Bee Mushroom Bodies and Central Complex in Visual Learning of Colored Lights in an Aversive Conditioning Assay. Front Behav Neurosci 2017; 11:98. [PMID: 28611605 PMCID: PMC5447682 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2017.00098] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2017] [Accepted: 05/09/2017] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The honey bee is an excellent visual learner, but we know little about how and why it performs so well, or how visual information is learned by the bee brain. Here we examined the different roles of two key integrative regions of the brain in visual learning: the mushroom bodies and the central complex. We tested bees' learning performance in a new assay of color learning that used electric shock as punishment. In this assay a light field was paired with electric shock. The other half of the conditioning chamber was illuminated with light of a different wavelength and not paired with shocks. The unrestrained bee could run away from the light stimulus and thereby associate one wavelength with punishment, and the other with safety. We compared learning performance of bees in which either the central complex or mushroom bodies had been transiently inactivated by microinjection of the reversible anesthetic procaine. Control bees learned to escape the shock-paired light field and to spend more time in the safe light field after a few trials. When ventral lobe neurons of the mushroom bodies were silenced, bees were no longer able to associate one light field with shock. By contrast, silencing of one collar region of the mushroom body calyx did not alter behavior in the learning assay in comparison to control treatment. Bees with silenced central complex neurons did not leave the shock-paired light field in the middle trials of training, even after a few seconds of being shocked. We discussed how mushroom bodies and the central complex both contribute to aversive visual learning with an operant component.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jenny A Plath
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie UniversitySydney, NSW, Australia.,Department of Biology, University of KonstanzKonstanz, Germany
| | - Brian V Entler
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie UniversitySydney, NSW, Australia.,Department of Biology, University of ScrantonScranton, PA, United States
| | - Nicholas H Kirkerud
- Department of Biology, University of KonstanzKonstanz, Germany.,International Max-Planck Research School for Organismal Biology, University of KonstanzKonstanz, Germany
| | - Ulrike Schlegel
- Department of Biology, University of KonstanzKonstanz, Germany.,Department of Biosciences, University of OsloOslo, Norway
| | | | - Andrew B Barron
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie UniversitySydney, NSW, Australia
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