Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
ping the entire genome and was very exciting. We wanted to map
honey bee genes. We had the model, the expertise was available at UC
Davis, and we were ready to go.
Hunt was one of those rare students who comes into a lab completely
prepared technically and brings something new, dei ning a new direc-
tion for one's research. We discussed mapping QTLs for defensive be-
havior, a hot topic at the time because of the recent i nding of African-
ized honey bees in the United States. But I thought that it would be
simpler and less risky (scientii cally) to map pollen-hoarding behavior
because we had the high- and low-strain bees. Truthfully, I thought
that even that was too high a risk for a graduate student, even one as
capable as Greg. (He did eventually go on to map defensive behavior as
well.) h e general belief at the time was that behavior was too complex
to be able to map behavioral QTLs, especially a socially complex trait
like stored pollen. We needed a sure-thing backup that could be
mapped at the same time. h e best trait would be something that has
100 percent penetrance (it is always expressed) and is a single gene—
like the sex-determining locus. So we set out to map complementary
sex determination and the pollen-hoarding trait simultaneously.
Mapping with RFLP markers is very laborious and slow. But our for-
tunes turned when Hunt's i ancée, Christie Williams, came to join him
in Davis. A talented plant geneticist, she took a job in a plant genetics
lab that was mapping plant genomes and became an important source
for us of information on the newest markers and mapping techniques.
Our biggest breakthrough came with the development of random am-
plii ed polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers for mapping. Plant genetics
labs at UC Davis were involved in the development of the markers and
used them for mapping plant genomes. However, no one had attempted
to use them to map an animal genome—until Hunt. Hunt worked with
Williams and others in the plant genetic labs on campus to perfect the
technique for honey bees. h ese new markers would greatly speed up
our ef ort to map behavior in the honey bee.
