Recently, a research result has been published in the top journal Science, entitled “Food Wanting is Mediated by Transient Activation of Dopaminergic Signaling in the Honey Bee Brain”. This result is headed by Professor Su Songkun’s research team from Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, in collaboration with Professor Martin Giurfa’s team from Université Toulouse III-Paul Sabatier, and Professor Zhang Shaowu’s team from Australian National University.
The research firstly discovers and confirms that dopamine-dependent wanting system regulates and drives food wanting, revealing honey bee (insects) share with mammals a similar dopamine-based wanting system.
Figure 2 Food expectation upon departure toward a food source and dance start increase dopamine levels in the honey bee brain.
Figure 3 Pharmacological blockade of dopaminergic signaling has an influence on honey bee foragers.
Figure 4 An individual dopamine-dependent wanting system drives both appetitive responsiveness and appetitive learning and memory in honey bees.
This work provides important and innovative scientific evidence for the research on the comparative evolution of food wanting of higher animals and even human beings, broadening the scope for the study on molecular basis of traits acquisition in honey bee and breeding of improved honey bee species, and it also provides a new biological model for the study of dopamine-related physiological, psychological, learning and memory disorders and other health problems.
The research shows that insects are similar to mammals in sharing neural mechanisms that generate wanting of stimuli with positive hedonic value.
Professor Su Songkun of FAFU is the corresponding author of this published paper. Four M.S students Huang Jingnan, Zhang Zhaonan, Feng Wangjiang, Zhao Yuanhong are the co-first authors of this paper. Professor Martin Giurfa from Université Toulouse III-Paul Sabatieris the paper’s co-corresponding author.
Source:
https://www.fafu.edu.cn/2022/0428/c132a67935/page.htm
Correspondant/Photogragher: College of Animal Sciences (Collge of Bee Science)
Translators: Huang Fafeng, International College
Li Boya, International College
