The biological bases of wanting have been characterized in mammals, but whether an equivalent wanting system exists in insects remains unknown. In this study, we focused on honey bees, which perform intensive foraging activities to satisfy colony needs, and sought to determine whether foragers leave the hive driven by specific expectations about reward and whether they recollect these expectations during their waggle dances. We monitored foraging and dance behavior and simultaneously quantified and interfered with biogenic amine signaling in the bee brain. We show that a dopamine-dependent wanting system is activated transiently in the bee brain by increased appetite and individual recollection of profitable food sources, both en route to the goal and during waggle dances. Our results show that insects share with mammals common neural mechanisms for encoding wanting of stimuli with positive hedonic value.
Nosema ceranae infection induces energetic stress, malnutrition, and precocious foraging in Apis mellifera. This study investigated effects of N. ceranae infection on the gene expression, protein content, and enzyme activity in the hypopharyngeal gland of nurse bees. The 285 differentially expressed genes were found between N. ceranae-infected and control bees using RNA-Seq, and 279 were upregulated and 6 were downregulated in infected bees. The protein level was significantly lower in infected bees than in controls, implying protein dysmetabolism and energetic stress in infected bees. The ELISA test showed that the specific activity of amylase was significantly higher in infected bees than in controls. The elevated enzymic activities were accompanied by an increased expressed level of hemolymph juvenile hormone-binding protein-encoding gene in infected bees, suggesting the possibility of Nosemainfected nurse bees to engage in behaviors that are normally performed by foragers. honeybees / Nosema ceranae / hypopharyngeal gland / differentially expressed genes / physiological responses
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