Matching Items (2,880)
Filtering by
- Creators: Arizona Board of Regents
Description
A notable feature of advanced eusocial insect groups is a division of labor within the sterile worker caste. However, the physiological aspects underlying the differentiation of behavioral phenotypes are poorly understood in one of the most successful social taxa, the ants. By starting to understand the foundations on which social behaviors are built, it also becomes possible to better evaluate hypothetical explanations regarding the mechanisms behind the evolution of insect eusociality, such as the argument that the reproductive regulatory infrastructure of solitary ancestors was co-opted and modified to produce distinct castes. This dissertation provides new information regarding the internal factors that could underlie the division of labor observed in both founding queens and workers of Pogonomyrmex californicus ants, and shows that changes in task performance are correlated with differences in reproductive physiology in both castes. In queens and workers, foraging behavior is linked to elevated levels of the reproductively-associated juvenile hormone (JH), and, in workers, this behavioral change is accompanied by depressed levels of ecdysteroid hormones. In both castes, the transition to foraging is also associated with reduced ovarian activity. Further investigation shows that queens remain behaviorally plastic, even after worker emergence, but the association between JH and behavioral bias remains the same, suggesting that this hormone is an important component of behavioral development in these ants. In addition to these reproductive factors, treatment with an inhibitor of the nutrient-sensing pathway Target of Rapamycin (TOR) also causes queens to become biased towards foraging, suggesting an additional sensory component that could play an important role in division of labor. Overall, this work provides novel identification of the possible regulators behind ant division of labor, and suggests how reproductive physiology could play an important role in the evolution and regulation of non-reproductive social behaviors.
ContributorsDolezal, Adam G (Author) / Amdam, Gro V (Thesis advisor) / Brent, Colin S. (Committee member) / Gadau, Juergen (Committee member) / Hoelldobler, Bert (Committee member) / Liebig, Juergen (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
ContributorsMarine Biological Laboratory Archives (Publisher) / Arizona Board of Regents (Publisher)
Created1925-19-39 (uncertain)
ContributorsMarine Biological Laboratory Archives (Publisher) / Arizona Board of Regents (Publisher)
Created1934
ContributorsMarine Biological Laboratory Archives (Publisher) / Arizona Board of Regents (Publisher)
Created1926
ContributorsMarine Biological Laboratory Archives (Publisher) / Arizona Board of Regents (Publisher)
Created1926
ContributorsMarine Biological Laboratory Archives (Publisher) / Arizona Board of Regents (Publisher)
Created1926
ContributorsMarine Biological Laboratory Archives (Publisher) / Arizona Board of Regents (Publisher)
Created1928
ContributorsWallace, Charles (Contributor) / Walls, Sarah (Creator) / Arizona State University. School of Life Sciences. Center for Biology and Society. Embryo Project Encyclopedia. (Publisher) / Arizona Board of Regents (Publisher)
Created2022-01-12
Description
Human Papillomavirus, or HPV, is a viral pathogen that most commonly spreads through sexual contact. HPV strains 6 and 11 normally cause genital warts, while HPV strains 16 and 18 commonly cause cervical cancer, which causes cancerous cells to spread in the cervix. Physicians can detect those HPV strains, using a Pap smear, which is a diagnostic test that collects cells from the female cervix.
ContributorsSantora, Emily (Contributor) / Walls, Sarah (Creator) / Arizona State University. School of Life Sciences. Center for Biology and Society. Embryo Project Encyclopedia. (Publisher) / Arizona Board of Regents (Publisher)
Created2021-04-06
Description
Johann Gregor Mendel studied patterns of trait inheritance in plants during the nineteenth century. Mendel, an Augustinian monk, conducted experiments on pea plants at St. Thomas’ Abbey in what is now Brno, Czech Republic. Twentieth century scientists used Mendel’s recorded observations to create theories about genetics.
ContributorsWallace, Charles (Contributor) / Walls, Sarah (Creator) / Arizona State University. School of Life Sciences. Center for Biology and Society. Embryo Project Encyclopedia. (Publisher) / Arizona Board of Regents (Publisher)
Created2022-01-13