Modelling the role of intracolonial genetic diversity on regulation of brood temperature in honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) colonies

Graham, Sonia; Myerscough, Mary R.; Jones, Julia C.; Oldroyd, Benjamin P.

doi:10.1007/s00040-005-0862-5

Cited by 49 publications

(43 citation statements)

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“…However, both studies assumed a pre-determined distribution of thresholds within and between patrilines. By allowing the threshold values to evolve by selection, our study extends the results of Myerscough and Oldroyd (2004) and Graham et al (2006) and demonstrates that an increased number of matings may indeed provide long-term benefits even when the threshold values can evolve adaptively. Consistent with these models, empirical data suggest that higher mating frequency has positive effects on colony fitness (Fuchs and Schade 1994;Mattila and Seeley 2007;Oldroyd et al 1991) and control of brood nest temperature in the honeybee (Jones et al 2004(Jones et al , 2007.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 63%

“…As a result, colonies headed by multiply mated queens were more efficient in conducting both the foraging and regulatory tasks. Two theoretical studies had previously investigated how multiple matings by queens influence the ability of workers to regulate nest temperature (Graham et al 2006;Myerscough and Oldroyd 2004). These studies concluded that, by increasing withincolony genetic variability, polyandry is an important contributor to the ability of colonies to precisely thermoregulate the nest.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…An important assumption of most of these models is that the distribution of response thresholds in the group is normally distributed (Graham et al 2006;Jeanson et al 2007;Myerscough and Oldroyd 2004). However, very little is known about the genetic architecture of response thresholds.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Task-dependent influence of genetic architecture and mating frequency on division of labour in social insect societies

Tarapore

Floreano

Keller

2009

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

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Division of labour is one of the most prominent features of social insects. The efficient allocation of individuals to different tasks requires dynamic adjustment in response to environmental perturbations. Theoretical models suggest that the colony-level flexibility in responding to external changes and internal perturbation may depend on the within-colony genetic diversity, which is affected by the number of breeding individuals. However, these models have not considered the genetic architecture underlying the propensity of workers to perform the various tasks. Here, we investigated how both within-colony genetic variability (stemming from variation in the number of matings by queens) and the number of genes influencing the stimulus (threshold) for a given task at which workers begin to perform that task jointly influence task allocation efficiency. We used a numerical agent-based model to investigate the situation where workers had to perform either a regulatory task or a foraging task. One hundred generations of artificial selection in populations consisting of 500 colonies revealed that an increased number of matings always improved colony performance, whatever the number of loci encoding the thresholds of the regulatory and foraging tasks. However, the beneficial effect of additional matings was particularly important when the genetic architecture of queens comprised one or a few genes for the foraging task's threshold. By contrast, a higher number of genes encoding the foraging task reduced colony performance with the detrimental effect being stronger when queens had mated with several males. Finally, the number of genes encoding the threshold for the regulatory task only had a minor effect on colony performance. Overall, our numerical experiments support the importance of mating frequency on efficiency of division of labour and also reveal complex interactions between the number of matings and genetic architecture.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 63%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Task-dependent influence of genetic architecture and mating frequency on division of labour in social insect societies

Tarapore

Floreano

Keller

2009

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

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“…The resulting difference in the responses of workers to a given stimulus intensity leads to individuals with a lower threshold for a given task being more likely to perform that task than individuals with a higher threshold. A variety of models have been proposed to account for the emergence of intracolony division of labor on the basis of variation in response thresholds (Robinson 1987(Robinson , 1992Bonabeau et al 1996;Page and Mitchell 1998;Théraulaz et al 1998;Graham et al 2006;Jeanson et al 2007; also see Beshers and Fewell 2001;Smith et al 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the PTM, the relation between stimulus and threshold is interpreted as the probability of performing the task. While these responsethreshold models are frequently used to explain division of labor in colonies of social insects (Bertram et al 2003;Graham et al 2006;Jeanson et al 2007), no attempts have been made to quantify their efficiency in task allocation. Here, we show with analysis and quantitative simulations that using the DTM (Page and Mitchell 1998) and the PTM (Bonabeau et al 1996) leads to suboptimal colony performance under some stimulus conditions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neural Networks as Mechanisms to Regulate Division of Labor

Lichocki

Tarapore

Keller

et al. 2012

The American Naturalist

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JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org. 26, 2011; Accepted October 27, 2011; Electronically published January 26, 2012 Online enhancements: appendixes abstract: In social insects, workers perform a multitude of tasks, such as foraging, nest construction, and brood rearing, without central control of how work is allocated among individuals. It has been suggested that workers choose a task by responding to stimuli gathered from the environment. Response-threshold models assume that individuals in a colony vary in the stimulus intensity (response threshold) at which they begin to perform the corresponding task. Here we highlight the limitations of these models with respect to colony performance in task allocation. First, we show with analysis and quantitative simulations that the deterministic response-threshold model constrains the workers' behavioral flexibility under some stimulus conditions. Next, we show that the probabilistic responsethreshold model fails to explain precise colony responses to varying stimuli. Both of these limitations would be detrimental to colony performance when dynamic and precise task allocation is needed. The University of Chicago Press andTo address these problems, we propose extensions of the responsethreshold model by adding variables that weigh stimuli. We test the extended response-threshold model in a foraging scenario and show in simulations that it results in an efficient task allocation. Finally, we show that response-threshold models can be formulated as artificial neural networks, which consequently provide a comprehensive framework for modeling task allocation in social insects.

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Division of labour and social insect colony performance in relation to task and mating number under two alternative response threshold models

et al. 2009

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Some social insects exhibit an exceptionally high degree of polyandry. Alternative hypotheses exist to explain the benefits of multiple mating through enhanced colony performance. This study critically extends theoretical analyses of the hypothesis that enhanced division of labour confers fitness benefits to the queen that are sufficient to explain the observed mating frequencies of social insects. The effects of widely varying numbers of tasks and matings were systematically investigated in two alternative computer simulation models. One model was based on tasks that have to be performed to maintain an optimal trait value, while the other model was based on tasks that only have to be sufficiently performed to exceed a minimum trait value to confer full fitness returns. Both model versions were evaluated assuming a broad and a narrow response threshold distribution. The results consistently suggest a beneficial effect of multiple mating on colony performance, albeit with quickly diminishing returns. An increasing number of tasks decreased performance of colonies with few patrilines but not of more genetically diverse colonies. Instead, a performance maximum was found for intermediate task numbers. The results from the two model versions and two response threshold distributions did not fundamentally differ, suggesting that the type of tasks and the breadth of response thresholds do not affect the benefit of multiple mating. In general, our results corroborate previous models that have evaluated simpler task/patriline scenarios. Furthermore, selection for an intermediate number of tasks is indicated that could constrain the degree of division of labour. We conclude that enhanced division of labour may have favoured the evolution of multiple mating but is insufficient to explain the extreme mating numbers observed in some social insects, even in complex task scenarios.

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Modelling the role of intracolonial genetic diversity on regulation of brood temperature in honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) colonies

Cited by 49 publications

References 44 publications

Task-dependent influence of genetic architecture and mating frequency on division of labour in social insect societies

Task-dependent influence of genetic architecture and mating frequency on division of labour in social insect societies

Neural Networks as Mechanisms to Regulate Division of Labor

Division of labour and social insect colony performance in relation to task and mating number under two alternative response threshold models

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