Post by Deinobrontornis on Mar 11, 2012 15:57:54 GMT -5
Honey bees have personalities like humans: Study
Honey bees are a lot like humans, according to a new study published in the journal Science. In fact, some honey bees are adventurous while others are lazy.
The research, which was conducted by entomologists at the University of Illinois, reveals that adventure-seeking honey bees display unmistakable patterns of gene activity in molecular pathways known to be associated with adventure-seeking in humans.
Diana Yates, Life Sciences Editor at the University of Illinois, reports that the research sheds some new light on how a honey bee hive functions. Honey bee hives were once thought to house an extremely regimented colonies of honey bees, but this no longer appears to be the case.
Gene Robinson, an entomology professor and the Institute for Genomic Biology director at the University of Illinois, posited that differences in the honey bees’ personalities may make them more or less likely to take on specific roles in the hive.
“In humans, differences in novelty-seeking are a component of personality,” Mr. Robinson said in a University of Illinois report on the study. “Could insects also have personalities?,” he asked.
Mr. Robinson and his research team examined two honey bee behaviors that appeared to be indicative of adventurous personalities. As the researchers observed nest scouts and food scouts, they noted that nest scouts were nearly 3.5 times more likely than other honey bees to also act as food scouts.
“There is a gold standard for personality research and that is if you show the same tendency in different contexts, then that can be called a personality trait,” Mr. Robinson posited.
“These findings demonstrate intriguing similarities in human and insect novelty seeking and suggest that this trait, which presumably evolved independently in these two lineages, may be subserved by conserved molecular components,” the researchers wrote in the study’s abstract.
The researchers utilized a whole-genome microarray analysis to pinpoint the molecular basis for the adventure-seeking personality trait in honey bees.
Ms. Yates reports that the research team discovered numerous differences in gene activity in the brains of nest scouts and food scouts.
“We expected to find some, but the magnitude of the differences was surprising given that both scouts and non-scouts are foragers,” Mr. Robinson admitted.
The researchers found that glutamate and octopamine treatments made non-scouts more likely to scout, while inhibiting dopamine signaling made scouts less likely to scout.
“Our results say that novelty-seeking in humans and other vertebrates has parallels in an insect,” Mr. Robinson posited. “One can see the same sort of consistent behavioral differences and molecular underpinnings,” he added.
The honey bees study was partially funded by the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health and Illinois Sociogenomics Initiative.
Honey bees are a lot like humans, according to a new study published in the journal Science. In fact, some honey bees are adventurous while others are lazy.
The research, which was conducted by entomologists at the University of Illinois, reveals that adventure-seeking honey bees display unmistakable patterns of gene activity in molecular pathways known to be associated with adventure-seeking in humans.
Diana Yates, Life Sciences Editor at the University of Illinois, reports that the research sheds some new light on how a honey bee hive functions. Honey bee hives were once thought to house an extremely regimented colonies of honey bees, but this no longer appears to be the case.
Gene Robinson, an entomology professor and the Institute for Genomic Biology director at the University of Illinois, posited that differences in the honey bees’ personalities may make them more or less likely to take on specific roles in the hive.
“In humans, differences in novelty-seeking are a component of personality,” Mr. Robinson said in a University of Illinois report on the study. “Could insects also have personalities?,” he asked.
Mr. Robinson and his research team examined two honey bee behaviors that appeared to be indicative of adventurous personalities. As the researchers observed nest scouts and food scouts, they noted that nest scouts were nearly 3.5 times more likely than other honey bees to also act as food scouts.
“There is a gold standard for personality research and that is if you show the same tendency in different contexts, then that can be called a personality trait,” Mr. Robinson posited.
“These findings demonstrate intriguing similarities in human and insect novelty seeking and suggest that this trait, which presumably evolved independently in these two lineages, may be subserved by conserved molecular components,” the researchers wrote in the study’s abstract.
The researchers utilized a whole-genome microarray analysis to pinpoint the molecular basis for the adventure-seeking personality trait in honey bees.
Ms. Yates reports that the research team discovered numerous differences in gene activity in the brains of nest scouts and food scouts.
“We expected to find some, but the magnitude of the differences was surprising given that both scouts and non-scouts are foragers,” Mr. Robinson admitted.
The researchers found that glutamate and octopamine treatments made non-scouts more likely to scout, while inhibiting dopamine signaling made scouts less likely to scout.
“Our results say that novelty-seeking in humans and other vertebrates has parallels in an insect,” Mr. Robinson posited. “One can see the same sort of consistent behavioral differences and molecular underpinnings,” he added.
The honey bees study was partially funded by the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health and Illinois Sociogenomics Initiative.
