TY  - JOUR
A1  - Reim, Tina
A1  - Scheiner, Ricarda
T1  - Division of labour in honey bees: age- and task-related changes in the expression of octopamine receptor genes
JF  - Insect molecular biology
N2  - The honey bee (Apis melliferaL.) has developed into an important ethological model organism for social behaviour and behavioural plasticity. Bees perform a complex age-dependent division of labour with the most pronounced behavioural differences occurring between in-hive bees and foragers. Whereas nurse bees, for example, stay inside the hive and provide the larvae with food, foragers leave the hive to collect pollen and nectar for the entire colony. The biogenic amine octopamine appears to play a major role in division of labour but the molecular mechanisms involved are unknown. We here investigated the role of two characterized octopamine receptors in honey bee division of labour. AmOctR1 codes for a Ca2+-linked octopamine receptor. AmOctR3/4 codes for a cyclic adenosine monophosphate-coupled octopamine receptor. Messenger RNA expression of AmOctR1 in different brain neuropils correlates with social task, whereas expression of AmOctR3/4 changes with age rather than with social role per se. Our results for the first time link the regulatory role of octopamine in division of labour to specific receptors and brain regions. They are an important step forward in our understanding of complex behavioural organization in social groups.
KW  - Apis mellifera
KW  - behavioural plasticity
KW  - G-protein coupled receptor
KW  - AmOctR1
KW  - AmOctR3
KW  - 4
Y1  - 2014
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1111/imb.12130
SN  - 0962-1075
SN  - 1365-2583
VL  - 23
IS  - 6
SP  - 833
EP  - 841
PB  - Wiley-Blackwell
CY  - Hoboken
ER  -