Scientists have identified genes that encode brain chemicals likely to play a role in the complex behaviours of the honey bee (Apis mellifera) – from working in and defending the hive to foraging, displaying and interpreting dance language. Understanding the jobs these chemicals, called neuropeptides, carry out in the honey bee will help researchers understand what they do in humans.

The 1 million neurons in the brain of a honey bee control an array of complex social behaviors, from babysitting to highly choreographed communication dances. Scientists are sorting through the insect's recently sequenced genome to find genes that play a role in the behaviors. Image credit:Scott Bauer, Agricultural Research Service, USDA

Some 10 157 genes have so far been identified in the recently sequenced honey bee genome. Jonathan Sweedler at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champagne and his co-workers in Belgium discovered 36 honey bee genes that encode 100 neuropeptides. The insect's brain contains 1 million neurons – several of the organs would fit on the head of a pin – which are bathed in neuropeptides that influence the animal's vast array of behaviours.

The researchers found clues for social cues, a form of bee pressure that can cause nurse bees to become foragers in response to needs of the hive. The job shift involves changes in thousands of genes in the honey bee brain; some genes turn on, while others turn off. A few “master regulator” genes known to function in the development of fruit flies have been implicated in regulating the activity of these thousands of genes. It appears that master regulator genes involved in nervous-system development in fruit flies are re-used by nature for behavioural functions in adult honey bees.

The group used a new combination of methods that included genetic analysis, powerful computing programs and mass spectrometry to make the discoveries. Determining the gene that encodes a neuropeptide, which is a smallish protein, is harder than in most instances because the protein molecules are often so dramatically modified they no longer show any relationship to their "parent" gene.

These early findings hint at the wealth of knowledge to be gained through further study of the honey bee genome, said Gene Robinson, the G William Arends Professor of Integrative Biology in the department of entomology at Illinois, and director of the Bee Research Facility at the University of Illinois. “The honey bee genome project is ushering in a bright era of bee research, for the benefit of agriculture, biological research and human health.”

Sweedler says his blended technology approach to peptide discovery holds promise for finding the molecules in the large number of genomes of other species currently being sequenced.

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