Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
7.7 Summary Comments
h e reproductive-ground-plan hypothesis provides the needed mecha-
nism to integrate the phenotypic and genetic architectures of the
pollen-hoarding syndrome. It simplii es our understanding. It proposes
that an ancient reproductive regulatory network of insects has been
used and remodeled by natural selection into an adaptive division of
labor. Evidence in support of this hypothesis comes from studies of
behavior, anatomy and physiology, gene silencing, hormone analysis,
organ transplants, and QTL mapping.
For more than 20 years, we selected for a single trait, the amount of
pollen stored in the comb. It resulted in changes in the high- and low-
pollen-hoarding strains at levels of the gene, most likely in some genes
involved in insulin-insulin-like signaling pathways, anatomical features
of the ovary, hormonal interactions, neurophysiology, sensory-response
systems, and behavior. But one result suggests that we now look at devel-
opment: the number of ovarioles correlates with gene expression, sensory
responses, and behavior (Figure 5.14). h e number of ovarioles in bees is
determined during larval development. So that is where we looked.
Suggested Reading
Amdam, G. V., Csondes, A., Fondrk, M. K., and Page, R. E. 2006. Complex
social behaviour derived from maternal reproductive traits.
Nature
439:76- 78.
Amdam, G. V., Ihle, K. E., and Page, R. E. 2009. Regulation of honeybee worker
(Apis mellifera)
life histories by vitellogenin. In
Hormones, Brain and
Behavior,
2nd ed., vol. 2, ed. D. W. Pfaf , A. P. Arnold, A. M. Etgen, S.
E. Fahrbach, et al. San Diego: Academic Press, pp. 1003-1025.
Amdam, G. V., Nilsen, K. A., Norberg, K., Fondrk, M. K., et al. 2007. Variation in
endocrine signaling underlies variation in social life history.
Am. Nat.
170:37- 46.
Amdam, G. V., Norberg, N., Fondrk, M. K., and Page, R. E. 2004. Reproductive
ground plan may mediate colony-level ef ects on individual foraging
behavior in honey bees.
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA
101:11350 -11355.
Amdam, G. V., Norberg, K., Hagen, A., and Omholt, S. W. 2003. Social exploita-
tion of vitellogenin.
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA
100:1799-1802.
