The influence of gustatory and olfactory experiences on responsiveness to reward in the honeybee

Background: Honeybees (Apis mellifera) exhibit an extraordinarily tuned division of labor that depends on age polyethism. This adjustment is generally associated with the fact that individuals of different ages display different response thresholds to given stimuli, which determine specific behavior...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:
Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Ramírez, G.P., Martínez, A.S., Fernández, V.M., Bielsa, G.C., Farina, W.M.
Formato: Artículo publishedVersion
Publicado: 2010
Materias:
bee
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12110/paper_19326203_v5_n10_p_Ramirez
http://repositoriouba.sisbi.uba.ar/gsdl/cgi-bin/library.cgi?a=d&c=artiaex&d=paper_19326203_v5_n10_p_Ramirez_oai
Aporte de:
id I28-R145-paper_19326203_v5_n10_p_Ramirez_oai
record_format dspace
spelling I28-R145-paper_19326203_v5_n10_p_Ramirez_oai2020-10-19 Ramírez, G.P. Martínez, A.S. Fernández, V.M. Bielsa, G.C. Farina, W.M. 2010 Background: Honeybees (Apis mellifera) exhibit an extraordinarily tuned division of labor that depends on age polyethism. This adjustment is generally associated with the fact that individuals of different ages display different response thresholds to given stimuli, which determine specific behaviors. For instance, the sucrose-response threshold (SRT) which largely depends on genetic factors may also be affected by the nectar sugar content. However, it remains unknown whether SRTs in workers of different ages and tasks can differ depending on gustatory and olfactory experiences. Methodology: Groups of worker bees reared either in an artificial environment or else in a queen-right colony, were exposed to different reward conditions at different adult ages. Gustatory response scores (GRSs) and odor-memory retrieval were measured in bees that were previously exposed to changes in food characteristics. Principal Findings: Results show that the gustatory responses of pre-foraging-aged bees are affected by changes in sucrose solution concentration and also to the presence of an odor provided it is presented as scented sucrose solution. In contrast no differences in worker responses were observed when presented with odor only in the rearing environment. Fast modulation of GRSs was observed in older bees (12-16 days of age) which are commonly involved in food processing tasks within the hive, while slower modulation times were observed in younger bees (commonly nurse bees, 6-9 days of age). This suggests that older food-processing bees have a higher plasticity when responding to fluctuations in resource information than younger hive bees. Adjustments in the number of trophallaxis events were also found when scented food circulated inside the nest, and this was positively correlated with the differences in timing observed in gustatory responsiveness and memory retention for hive bees of different age classes. Conclusions: This work demonstrates the accessibility of chemosensory information in the honeybee colonies with respect to incoming nectar. The modulation of the sensory-response systems within the hive can have important effects on the dynamics of food transfer and information propagation. © 2010 Ramírez et al. Fil:Ramírez, G.P. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina. Fil:Fernández, V.M. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina. Fil:Farina, W.M. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina. application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12110/paper_19326203_v5_n10_p_Ramirez info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/ar PLoS ONE 2010;5(10) sucrose animal experiment article conditioning controlled study food processing honeybee imago memory consolidation nerve cell plasticity nonhuman odor reward scoring system smelling task performance taste animal bee motivation odor physiology Apis mellifera Apoidea Animals Bees Motivation Smell Taste The influence of gustatory and olfactory experiences on responsiveness to reward in the honeybee info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:ar-repo/semantics/artículo info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion http://repositoriouba.sisbi.uba.ar/gsdl/cgi-bin/library.cgi?a=d&c=artiaex&d=paper_19326203_v5_n10_p_Ramirez_oai
institution Universidad de Buenos Aires
institution_str I-28
repository_str R-145
collection Repositorio Digital de la Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA)
topic sucrose
animal experiment
article
conditioning
controlled study
food processing
honeybee
imago
memory consolidation
nerve cell plasticity
nonhuman
odor
reward
scoring system
smelling
task performance
taste
animal
bee
motivation
odor
physiology
Apis mellifera
Apoidea
Animals
Bees
Motivation
Smell
Taste
spellingShingle sucrose
animal experiment
article
conditioning
controlled study
food processing
honeybee
imago
memory consolidation
nerve cell plasticity
nonhuman
odor
reward
scoring system
smelling
task performance
taste
animal
bee
motivation
odor
physiology
Apis mellifera
Apoidea
Animals
Bees
Motivation
Smell
Taste
Ramírez, G.P.
Martínez, A.S.
Fernández, V.M.
Bielsa, G.C.
Farina, W.M.
The influence of gustatory and olfactory experiences on responsiveness to reward in the honeybee
topic_facet sucrose
animal experiment
article
conditioning
controlled study
food processing
honeybee
imago
memory consolidation
nerve cell plasticity
nonhuman
odor
reward
scoring system
smelling
task performance
taste
animal
bee
motivation
odor
physiology
Apis mellifera
Apoidea
Animals
Bees
Motivation
Smell
Taste
description Background: Honeybees (Apis mellifera) exhibit an extraordinarily tuned division of labor that depends on age polyethism. This adjustment is generally associated with the fact that individuals of different ages display different response thresholds to given stimuli, which determine specific behaviors. For instance, the sucrose-response threshold (SRT) which largely depends on genetic factors may also be affected by the nectar sugar content. However, it remains unknown whether SRTs in workers of different ages and tasks can differ depending on gustatory and olfactory experiences. Methodology: Groups of worker bees reared either in an artificial environment or else in a queen-right colony, were exposed to different reward conditions at different adult ages. Gustatory response scores (GRSs) and odor-memory retrieval were measured in bees that were previously exposed to changes in food characteristics. Principal Findings: Results show that the gustatory responses of pre-foraging-aged bees are affected by changes in sucrose solution concentration and also to the presence of an odor provided it is presented as scented sucrose solution. In contrast no differences in worker responses were observed when presented with odor only in the rearing environment. Fast modulation of GRSs was observed in older bees (12-16 days of age) which are commonly involved in food processing tasks within the hive, while slower modulation times were observed in younger bees (commonly nurse bees, 6-9 days of age). This suggests that older food-processing bees have a higher plasticity when responding to fluctuations in resource information than younger hive bees. Adjustments in the number of trophallaxis events were also found when scented food circulated inside the nest, and this was positively correlated with the differences in timing observed in gustatory responsiveness and memory retention for hive bees of different age classes. Conclusions: This work demonstrates the accessibility of chemosensory information in the honeybee colonies with respect to incoming nectar. The modulation of the sensory-response systems within the hive can have important effects on the dynamics of food transfer and information propagation. © 2010 Ramírez et al.
format Artículo
Artículo
publishedVersion
author Ramírez, G.P.
Martínez, A.S.
Fernández, V.M.
Bielsa, G.C.
Farina, W.M.
author_facet Ramírez, G.P.
Martínez, A.S.
Fernández, V.M.
Bielsa, G.C.
Farina, W.M.
author_sort Ramírez, G.P.
title The influence of gustatory and olfactory experiences on responsiveness to reward in the honeybee
title_short The influence of gustatory and olfactory experiences on responsiveness to reward in the honeybee
title_full The influence of gustatory and olfactory experiences on responsiveness to reward in the honeybee
title_fullStr The influence of gustatory and olfactory experiences on responsiveness to reward in the honeybee
title_full_unstemmed The influence of gustatory and olfactory experiences on responsiveness to reward in the honeybee
title_sort influence of gustatory and olfactory experiences on responsiveness to reward in the honeybee
publishDate 2010
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12110/paper_19326203_v5_n10_p_Ramirez
http://repositoriouba.sisbi.uba.ar/gsdl/cgi-bin/library.cgi?a=d&c=artiaex&d=paper_19326203_v5_n10_p_Ramirez_oai
work_keys_str_mv AT ramirezgp theinfluenceofgustatoryandolfactoryexperiencesonresponsivenesstorewardinthehoneybee
AT martinezas theinfluenceofgustatoryandolfactoryexperiencesonresponsivenesstorewardinthehoneybee
AT fernandezvm theinfluenceofgustatoryandolfactoryexperiencesonresponsivenesstorewardinthehoneybee
AT bielsagc theinfluenceofgustatoryandolfactoryexperiencesonresponsivenesstorewardinthehoneybee
AT farinawm theinfluenceofgustatoryandolfactoryexperiencesonresponsivenesstorewardinthehoneybee
AT ramirezgp influenceofgustatoryandolfactoryexperiencesonresponsivenesstorewardinthehoneybee
AT martinezas influenceofgustatoryandolfactoryexperiencesonresponsivenesstorewardinthehoneybee
AT fernandezvm influenceofgustatoryandolfactoryexperiencesonresponsivenesstorewardinthehoneybee
AT bielsagc influenceofgustatoryandolfactoryexperiencesonresponsivenesstorewardinthehoneybee
AT farinawm influenceofgustatoryandolfactoryexperiencesonresponsivenesstorewardinthehoneybee
_version_ 1766026805085470720