Honey Bee Genomics
Bees are as important as the crops they pollinate and bees have long been a subject of study because of their fascinating behavior. In our lab, we are interested in honey bee behavior and genomics. We constructed a number of linkage maps of the genome, including one with over 1000 DNA markers. The maps show the positions of both the markers and genes that influence behaviors. We map the genes by associating a specific behavioral trait with the inheritance of markers in families of bees. By detecting genes that vary in bee populations, we will identify those that natural selection is working on in the evolution of social behaviors. We have focused mainly on defensive (stinging and guarding) behavior, but are also looking at nest cleaning behavior and sensitivity to alcohol. Yes, bees can get drunk! By overlaying our maps on the sequence from the honey bee genome project, we identified candidate genes for various behaviors. Now we are sequencing them and finding out how they are expressed in different strains of bees. Our research over the past 4 years has been funded primarily by a grant from the NSF integrative biology and neurobiology program award no. IBN 0110842.
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Basics of Bee Genetics
Like other bees, ants and wasps, the male honey bee (the drone) comes from an unfertilized egg. Most animals inherit one set of chromosomes from their father and one from their mother. Drones don't have a father. They have only one copy of each of the 16 chromosomes. Male haploidy makes honey bees good subjects for behavioral genetics because the drone transmits the same genes to all of his worker progeny. |
16 Honey bee chromosomes
(Gildardo Aquino, supported by USDA/NRI to J.S. Johnston) |
