[Pollinator] Fw: Study of bees links gene regulatory networks in the brain to behavior

Tue Sep 27 15:06:08 PDT 2011

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-----Original Message-----
From: "Kathy Keatley Garvey" <kegarvey at ucdavis.edu>
Date: Tue, 27 Sep 2011 10:05:02 
To: <Ladadams at aol.com>
Subject: Study of bees links gene regulatory networks in the brain to behavior

Here's something of interest

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-09/uoia-sob092311.php

Public release date: 26-Sep-2011
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Contact: Diana Yates
diya at illinois.edu
217-333-5802
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign <http://www.uiuc.edu>  

Study of bees links gene regulatory networks in the brain to behavior

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 <http://www.eurekalert.org/multimedia/pub/36285.php?from=194769>
http://www.eurekalert.org/images/eutube/icon_image_tiny.gifIMAGE: University
of Illinois Institute for Genomic Biology director Gene Robinson and his
colleagues found a "mosaic" pattern of behavior-related gene expression in
the brain.

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CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - A new study reveals that distinct networks of genes in the
honey bee brain contribute to specific behaviors, such as foraging or
aggression, researchers report.

The study, in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is the
first to show that common, naturally occurring behaviors are under the
influence of discrete regulatory networks in the brain. It confirms,
scientists say, what years of research into the brain and behavior seemed to
indicate: There is a close relationship between changes in gene expression -
which genes are actively transcribed into other molecules to perform
specific tasks in the cell - and behavior.

"We found that there is a high degree of modularity in the regulation of
genes and behavior, with distinct behavioral states represented by distinct
gene network configurations," said University of Illinois entomology
<http://www.life.illinois.edu/entomology/>  and neuroscience
<http://neuroscience.illinois.edu/redirected.html>  professor Gene Robinson
<http://www.igb.illinois.edu/about/director> , who led the study. Robinson
is the director of the Institute for Genomic Biology
<http://www.igb.illinois.edu/>  at Illinois.

The study made use of data from the BeeSpace Project
<http://www.beespace.uiuc.edu/> . Curated by Illinois medical information
science
<http://www.med.illinois.edu/depts%5Fprograms/sciences/basic/MedInfoSci/>
professor Bruce Schatz <http://www.canis.uiuc.edu/schatz.html> , BeeSpace is
a catalog of genes that turn on or off in the bee brain in response to
social cues, environmental changes or as a result of hereditary factors. By
analyzing gene expression and behavioral data from dozens of studies (which
were performed under the auspices of the BeeSpace Project), the researchers
were able to get a broad view of the molecular changes in the bee brain that
contribute to behavior.

The team focused their analysis on lists of genes implicated in at least one
of three categories of behavior: foraging, such as scouting for flowers or
navigating to and from the hive; maturation, the process by which an adult
honey bee graduates from being a nanny to working as a forager as it grows
older; and aggression, or hive defense.

The researchers then used a systems approach, led by Illinois chemical and
biomolecular engineering professor Nathan Price
<http://price.systemsbiology.net/>  (now at the Institute for Systems
Biology in Seattle), to create a computer model of a gene regulatory network
that could predict the differences in gene expression seen in the
experimental studies.

The model found a "mosaic" pattern of behavior-related gene expression in
the brain. It also predicted that a few transcription factors - genes that
regulate other genes - play a role in all three behavioral categories. Only
four of these "global regulators" were identified, while sets of about 15-25
transcription factors were behavior-specific.

Researchers have long worried that the regulation of brain gene expression
is too complex to fathom, because so many factors can act together to
regulate behavior.

"But now we see that direct, linear relationships between transcription
factors and downstream genes can predict a surprisingly large amount of gene
expression," Price said. "This gives scientists hope that it will be
possible to completely understand the regulation of brain gene expression in
the future."

###

Funding for this study was provided by the National Science Foundation, the
National Institutes of Health, the National Cancer Institute, the U.S.
Department of Defense, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and the Roy J. Carver
Charitable Trust.

Editor's notes: To reach Gene Robinson, call 217- 265-0309; email
generobi at illinois.edu.

The paper, "Behavior-Specific Changes in Transcriptional Modules Lead to
Distinct and Predictable Neurogenomic States," is available from the U. of I
News Bureau.

Kathy Keatley Garvey
Communications Specialist
Department of Entomology
372 Briggs Hall
One Shields Ave.
University of California, Davis
Davis, CA 95616
Phone: (530) 754-6894
Fax: (530) 752-1537
kegarvey at ucdavis.edu 
UC Davis Department of Entomology website:
http://entomology.ucdavis.edu/home.cfm
Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility website:
http://beebiology.ucdavis.edu
UC Agriculture and Natural Resources website:
http://ucanr.org/index.cfm
Bug Squad Blog
http://ucanr.org/blogs/bugsquad/
Flickr Photos 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pho-tog/

From: pollinator-bounces+kegarvey=ucdavis.edu at lists.sonic.net
[mailto:pollinator-bounces+kegarvey=ucdavis.edu at lists.sonic.net] On Behalf
Of Ladadams at aol.com
Sent: Friday, September 16, 2011 5:10 PM
To: pollinator at nappc.org
Subject: [Pollinator] Fwd: opening of Agriculture Museum in Santa Paula

  _____  

From: rhozbud at sbcglobal.net
To: LDA at pollinator.org
Sent: 9/16/2011 2:10:18 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time
Subj: opening of Agriculture Museum in Santa Paula

hi Laurie, 

Hope this finds you well. Just wanted to let you know about this exhibition,
featuring some of my bee images.

http://www.venturamuseum.org/AgricultureMuseum/tabid/289/Default.aspx

all the best,

Rose-Lynn

www.rose-lynnfisher.com <http://www.rose-lynnfisher.com/> 

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