Animals and humans share similar reactions to the effects of addictive substances, including those of their brain networks to drugs. Our review focuses on simple invertebrate models, particularly the honeybee (Apis mellifera), and on the effects of drugs on bee behaviour and brain functions. The drug effects in bees are very similar to those described in humans. Furthermore, the honeybee community is a superorganism in which many collective functions outperform the simple sum of individual functions. The distribution of reward functions in this superorganism is unique - although sublimated at the individual level, community reward functions are of higher quality. This phenomenon of collective reward may be extrapolated to other animal species living in close and strictly organised societies, i.e. humans. The relationship between sociality and reward, based on use of similar parts of the neural network (social decision-making network in mammals, mushroom body in bees), suggests a functional continuum of reward and sociality in animals.
Telomerase is an enzyme that adds repeats of DNA sequences to the ends of chromosomes, thereby preventing their shortening. Telomerase activity is associated with proliferative status of cells, organismal development, and aging. We report an analysis of telomerase activity and telomere length in the honeybee, Apis mellifera. Telomerase activity was found to be regulated in a development and caste-specific manner. During the development of somatic tissues of larval drones and workers, telomerase activity declined to 10 % of its level in embryos and remained low during pupal and adult stages but was upregulated in testes of late pupae, where it reached 70 % of the embryo level. Upregulation of telomerase activity was observed in the ovaries of late pupal queens, reaching 160 % of the level in embryos. Compared to workers and drones, queens displayed higher levels of telomerase activity. In the third larval instar of queens, telomerase activity reached the embryo level, and an enormous increase was observed in adult brains of queens, showing a 70-fold increase compared to a brain of an adult worker. Southern hybridization of terminal TTAGG fragments revealed a high variability of telomeric length between different individuals, although the same pattern of hybridization signals was observed in different tissues of each individual.
- MeSH
- Chromosomes, Insect genetics metabolism MeSH
- Insect Proteins genetics metabolism MeSH
- Telomere Homeostasis physiology MeSH
- Telomerase genetics metabolism MeSH
- Telomere genetics metabolism MeSH
- Bees genetics metabolism MeSH
- Animals MeSH
- Check Tag
- Animals MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
- Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
