蜜蜂生物节律研究进展

Circadian rhythms of honey bees

生物节律主要指有机体生命活动的内在节律性。蜜蜂生物节律受到其社会性的影响,从而参与许多复杂行为的调控。与果蝇相比,蜜蜂的生物节律与哺乳动物更相似。工蜂和蜂王的生物节律表现出高度的可塑性。例如,工蜂的昼夜节律受其劳动分工形式的调控,并通过与幼蜂的直接接触来调节,哺育蜂昼夜照料幼虫,在行为或时钟基因表达方面没有昼夜节律变化。从蜜蜂的社会性、蜜蜂生物节律产生的分子机制、神经基础、研究方法、可塑性、蜜蜂的睡眠等方面综述了蜜蜂生物节律的研究进展。

The circadian rhythm, also known as the circadian clock, mainly refers to the endogenous rhythms of organism’s activities. The circadian rhythm of the honey bee is socially regulated and involves many complex behavior regulations. Many studies suggest that the clock of the bee is more similar to that of mammals than to that of Drosophila. Both workers and queens show plasticity in circadian rhythms. For instance, the circadian rhythms of workers are influenced by the labor division and regulated by the direct contact with the brood;the nurse bees tend the brood around the clock with no circadian rhythms in their behavior or clock gene expression. Here, we summarize the advance of the honey bee circadian rhythm studies from the following aspects: the honey bee societies;the molecular and neuronal organizations of the honey bee circadian clock;the methods for studying the rhythms of the honey bee;the plasticity of the honey bee circadian clock;and the sleep of the honey bee.