Waggle dance-related gene expression profiles in the honey bee (Apis mellifera) brain

Abstract

The honey bee dance communication system is one of the most intriguing animal communication signals. It allows foragers to share information related to food sources with nestmates using the waggle dance, which involves the transmission of location information through orientation and duration. Honey bee transcriptomes are dynamic with different stages, expressing an ensemble of differential genes that give rise to substantial behavior diversity. Here, we have provided a global view of mRNA expression profiles in three different stages of waggle dancers including dancing start (DS), dancing end (DE), and dancing cessation (DC). This study yielded 212 differentially expressed genes (DEGs). Among them, we identified 92 DEGs between DS and DC, 118 DEGs between DE and DC, and 2 DEGs between DS and DE. Further, gene ontology (GO) and KEGG analysis suggested that hormone-mediated signaling pathways and participation in pathways controlling the circadian rhythm, nicotinate, and nicotinamide metabolism were attributed to upregulated genes in DS. In addition, the D1 dopamine receptor in dopaminergic pathways, the peptide signaling involving apidaecin, and neprilysin-2 may play important roles in intricate behavioral processes.