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Description
The most advanced social insects, the eusocial insects, form often large societies in which there is reproductive division of labor, queens and workers, have overlapping generations, and cooperative brood care where daughter workers remain in the nest with their queen mother and care for their siblings. The eusocial insects are composed of representative species of bees and wasps, and all species of ants and termites. Much is known about their organizational structure, but remains to be discovered.
The success of social insects is dependent upon cooperative behavior and adaptive strategies shaped by natural selection that respond to internal or external conditions. The objective of my research was to investigate specific mechanisms that have helped shaped the structure of division of labor observed in social insect colonies, including age polyethism and nutrition, and phenomena known to increase colony survival such as egg cannibalism. I developed various Ordinary Differential Equation (ODE) models in which I applied dynamical, bifurcation, and sensitivity analysis to carefully study and visualize biological outcomes in social organisms to answer questions regarding the conditions under which a colony can survive. First, I investigated how the population and evolutionary dynamics of egg cannibalism and division of labor can promote colony survival. I then introduced a model of social conflict behavior to study the inclusion of different response functions that explore the benefits of cannibalistic behavior and how it contributes to age polyethism, the change in behavior of workers as they age, and its biological relevance. Finally, I introduced a model to investigate the importance of pollen nutritional status in a honeybee colony, how it affects population growth and influences division of labor within the worker caste. My results first reveal that both cannibalism and division of labor are adaptive strategies that increase the size of the worker population, and therefore, the persistence of the colony. I show the importance of food collection, consumption, and processing rates to promote good colony nutrition leading to the coexistence of brood and adult workers. Lastly, I show how taking into account seasonality for pollen collection improves the prediction of long term consequences.
The success of social insects is dependent upon cooperative behavior and adaptive strategies shaped by natural selection that respond to internal or external conditions. The objective of my research was to investigate specific mechanisms that have helped shaped the structure of division of labor observed in social insect colonies, including age polyethism and nutrition, and phenomena known to increase colony survival such as egg cannibalism. I developed various Ordinary Differential Equation (ODE) models in which I applied dynamical, bifurcation, and sensitivity analysis to carefully study and visualize biological outcomes in social organisms to answer questions regarding the conditions under which a colony can survive. First, I investigated how the population and evolutionary dynamics of egg cannibalism and division of labor can promote colony survival. I then introduced a model of social conflict behavior to study the inclusion of different response functions that explore the benefits of cannibalistic behavior and how it contributes to age polyethism, the change in behavior of workers as they age, and its biological relevance. Finally, I introduced a model to investigate the importance of pollen nutritional status in a honeybee colony, how it affects population growth and influences division of labor within the worker caste. My results first reveal that both cannibalism and division of labor are adaptive strategies that increase the size of the worker population, and therefore, the persistence of the colony. I show the importance of food collection, consumption, and processing rates to promote good colony nutrition leading to the coexistence of brood and adult workers. Lastly, I show how taking into account seasonality for pollen collection improves the prediction of long term consequences.
ContributorsRodríguez Messan, Marisabel (Author) / Kang, Yun (Thesis advisor) / Castillo-Chavez, Carlos (Thesis advisor) / Kuang, Yang (Committee member) / Page Jr., Robert E (Committee member) / Gardner, Carl (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
Vitellogenin (vg) is a precursor protein of egg yolk in honeybees, but it is also known to have immunological functions. The purpose of this experiment was to determine the effect of vg on the viral load of deformed wing virus (DWV) in worker honey bees (Apis mellifera). I hypothesized that a reduction in vg expression would lead to an increase in the viral load. I collected 180 worker bees and split them into four groups: half the bees were subjected to a vg gene knockdown by injections of double stranded vg RNA, and the rest were injected with green fluorescent protein (gfp) double stranded RNA. Half of each group was thereafter injected with DWV, and half given a sham injection. The rate of mortality in all four groups was higher than expected, leaving only 17 bees total. I dissected these bees' fat bodies and extracted their RNA to test for vg and DWV. PCR results showed that, out of the small group of remaining bees, the levels of vg were not statistically different. Furthermore, both groups of virus-injected bees showed similar viral loads. Because of the high mortality rate bees and the lack of differing levels of vg transcript between experimental and control groups, I could not draw conclusions from these results. The high mortality could be caused by several factors: temperature-induced stress, repeated stress from the two injections, and stress from viral infection. In addition, it is possible that the vg dsRNA batch I used was faulty. This thesis exemplifies that information cannot safely be extracted when loss of sampling units result in a small datasets that do not represent the original sampling population.
ContributorsCrable, Emma Lewis (Author) / Amdam, Gro (Thesis director) / Wang, Ying (Committee member) / Dahan, Romain (Committee member) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-12
Description
Honey bee (Apis mellifera) colonies have experienced substantial losses due to colony collapse disorder (CCD) since the first officially reported cases in 2006. Many factors have been implicated in CCD, including pests, pathogens, malnutrition, and pesticide use, but no correlation has been found between a single factor and the occurrence of CCD. Fungicides have received less research attention compared to insecticides, despite the fact that fungicide application coincides with bloom and the presence of bees. Pristine fungicide is widely used in agriculture and is commonly found as a residue in hives. Several studies have concluded that Pristine can be used without harming bees, but reports of brood loss following Pristine application continue to surface across the country. The primary objectives of this study were to determine whether Pristine causes an aversive gustatory response in bees and whether consumption of an acute dose affects responsiveness to sucrose. An awareness of how foragers interact with contaminated food is useful to understand the likelihood that Pristine is ingested and how that may affect bees' ability to evaluate floral resources. Our results indicated that Pristine has no significant effect on gustatory response or sucrose responsiveness. There was no significant difference between bee responses to Pristine contaminated sucrose and sucrose alone, and no significant effect of Pristine on sucrose responsiveness. These results indicate that honey bees do not have a gustatory aversion to Pristine. A lack of aversion means that honey bees will continue collecting contaminated resources and dispersing them throughout the colony where it can affect brood and clean food stores.
ContributorsMcHugh, Cora Elizabeth (Co-author) / Jernigan, Christopher (Co-author, Committee member) / Burden, Christina (Co-author) / DeGrandi-Hoffman, Gloria (Co-author) / Smith, Brian (Thesis director) / Fewell, Jennifer (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / School of Art (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
Honeybees (Apis mellifera) are pollinators that face multiple challenges during foraging such as fungicides applied to floral sources. Fungicides are chemicals used to inhibit key fungal mechanisms like metabolism, but their effects remain relatively unknown in bees. In addition, studying the maturing bee can help us identify demographics that are more vulnerable to toxic materials like fungicides. The purpose of this study is test whether maturation and the fungicide Pristine influence the permeability of the blood-brain barrier. Specifically, we use a transportable dye to test how blood brain barrier transporter function responds to toxic insult and how it changes with age. Oral ingestion of Pristine by female workers did not have an effect on blood brain barrier permeability which suggests Pristine may have no or longer term consequences in the bee. However, blood brain barrier permeability changed with the bee's age which could be explained by the regulation of blood brain barrier transporters during natural transitions in hive task or the presence of hemolymph protein filtration
ContributorsPatel, Aamir S. (Author) / Amdam, Gro (Thesis director) / Harrison, Jon (Committee member) / Ozturk, Cahit (Committee member) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Honey Bee Nutrition and Colony Collapse Disorder: How legislation can curtail bee population decline
Description
The purpose of this experiment was to test how different nutrition supplementation would affect honey bee lifespan. The use of sugar syrup and pollen as well as protein, probiotic, and vitamin supplement were the independent variables in this experiment. The average lifespan of a honey bee (Apis mellifera) is around 30 days depending on climate and time of year (Amdam & Omholt, 2002). This experiment yielded results that would require further testing but was able to conclude that a diet of sugar syrup is not sufficient for honey bees, whereas pollen and probiotic supplement showed positive effects on average lifespan. Protein supplement showed no statistically significant advantage or disadvantage to pollen when it comes to short term supplementation. Considering the importance of nutrition on honey bee lifespan, this paper also explores specific ways legislation can aid in pollinator population decline, considering the impacts of colonies without access to a healthy diet.
ContributorsKalamchi, Dena (Author) / Woodall, Gina (Thesis director) / Kaftanoglu, Osman (Committee member) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics (Contributor) / Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
Division of labor is a hallmark for social insects and is closely related to honey bee morphology and physiology. Vitellogenin (Vg), a precursor protein in insect egg yolk, has several known functions apart from serving as a nutrient source for developing eggs. Vg is a component in the royal jelly produced in the hypopharyngeal glands (HPG) of worker bees which is used to feed both the developing brood and the queen. The HPG is closely associated with divisions of labor as the peak in its development corresponds with the nursing behavior. Independent of the connection between Vg and the HPG, Vg has been seen to play a fundamental role in divisions of labor by affecting worker gustatory responses, age of onset of foraging, and foraging preferences. Similar to Vg, the number of ovarioles in worker ovaries is also associated with division of labor as bees with more ovarioles tend to finish tasks in the hive and become foragers faster. This experiment aims to connect HPGs, ovaries, and Vg by proposing a link between them in the form of ecdysone (20E). 20E is a hormone produced by the ovaries and is linked to ovary development and Vg by tyramine titers. By treating young emerged bees with ecdysone and measuring HPG and ovary development over a trial period, this experiment seeks to determine whether 20E affects division of labor through Vg. We found that though the stress of injection caused a significant decrease in development of both the ovaries and HPG, there was no discernable effect of 20E on either of these organs.
ContributorsChin, Elijah Seth (Author) / Wang, Ying (Thesis director) / Page, Robert (Committee member) / Cook, Chelsea (Committee member) / School of Molecular Sciences (Contributor) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12
Description
Concussions and traumatic brain injuries are mechanical events which can derive from no specific activity or event. However, these injuries occur often during athletic and sporting events but many athletes experiencing these symptoms go undiagnosed and continue playing without proper medical attention. The current gold standard for diagnosing athletes with concussions is to have medical professionals on the sidelines of events to perform qualitative standardized assessments which may not be performed frequently enough and are not specialized for each athlete. The purpose of this report is to discuss a study sanctioned by Arizona State University's Project HoneyBee and additional affiliations to validate a third-party mouth guard device product to recognize and detect force impacts blown to an athlete's head during athletic activity. Current technology in health monitoring medical devices can allow users to apply this device as an additional safety mechanism for early concussion awareness and diagnosis. This report includes the materials and methods used for experimentation, the discussion of its results, and the complications which occurred and areas for improvement during the preliminary efforts of this project. Participants in the study were five non-varsity ASU Wrestling athletes who volunteered to wear a third-party mouth guard device during sparring contact at practice. Following a needed calibration period for the devices, results were recorded both through visual observation and with the mouth guard devices using an accelerometer and gyroscope. This study provided a sound understanding for the operation and functionality of the mouth guard devices. The mouth guard devices have the capability to provide fundamental avenues of research for future investigations.
ContributorsTielke, Austin Wyatt (Author) / Ross, Heather (Thesis director) / LaBelle, Jeffrey (Committee member) / Harrington Bioengineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12
Description
Animals must learn to ignore stimuli that are irrelevant to survival, a process referred to as latent inhibition. The Amtyr1 gene has been shown through quantitative trait loci mapping to be linked to strong latent inhibition in honey bees. Here we implicate this G-protein coupled receptor for the biogenic amine tyramine as an important factor underlying this form of learning in honey bees. We show that dsRNA targeted to disrupt the tyramine receptors, specifically affects latent inhibition but not excitatory associative conditioning. Our results therefore identify a distinct reinforcement pathway for latent inhibition in insects.
ContributorsPetersen, Mary Margaret (Author) / Smith, Brian (Thesis director) / Wang, Ying (Committee member) / Sinakevitch, Irina (Committee member) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12
Description
Recent work in free-recall tasks suggest that human memory foraging may follow a Lévy flight distribution – a random walk procedure that is common in other activities of cognitive agents, such as animal and human food foraging. This study attempts to draw parallels between memory search and physical search, with the assumption that humans follow similar search patterns in both. To date, research merely equates the two processes (foraging in memory and the physical world) based on a similarity in statistical structure. This study starts with demonstrating a relationship between physical distance traveled and IRIs by having participants list countries. An IRI, inter-retrieval interval, is the time interval between items recalled. The next experiment uses multidimensional scaling (MDS) to derive a Euclidean perceptual space from similarity ratings of freely-recalled items and then maps the trajectory of human thought through this perceptual space. This trajectory can offer a much more compelling comparison to physical foraging behavior. Finally, a possible correlate of Lévy flight foraging is explored called critical slowing down. Statistically significant evidence was found in all three experiments. The discussion connects all three experiments and what their results mean for human memory foraging.
ContributorsGreer, Katharine Marie (Author) / Amazeen, Eric L. (Thesis director) / Glenberg, Arthur (Committee member) / Amazeen, Polemnia (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / School of Criminology and Criminal Justice (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12
ContributorsEvans, Bartlett R. (Conductor) / Schildkret, David (Conductor) / Glenn, Erica (Conductor) / Concert Choir (Performer) / Chamber Singers (Performer) / ASU Library. Music Library (Publisher)
Created2018-03-16