Evolution of chemical communication and neuroanatomical plasticity in social hymenoptera

• Grant number: 23/03122-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: May 01, 2023
• End date: October 31, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Zoology - Animal Behavior
• Agreement: Research Foundation - Flanders (FWO)
• Principal Investigator: Fábio Santos do Nascimento
• Grantee: Bruno Gusmão Vieira
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto (FFCLRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 21/05598-8 - The evolution of caste plasticity and caste dimorphism in insect societies, AP.R

Abstract

Social insects are recognized by their efficiency on labor division between its members, and for this to happen, signaling mechanisms and sophisticated receptors are necessary. These decodify and transmit all information about the colony and the external environment to the brain. Social insects can be considered like "factories" of chemical compounds that are produced by exocrine glands and/or distributed at their cuticles, and are fundamental for the diverse amount of functions that regulate the colony activities. Besides that, the insect's brain is a structure that displays morpho-functional plasticity that should follow the behavioral chronology of workers' groups that have specificity to certain tasks, showing differences in volume and/or specialization in specific neuropil subregions. This project main objective is to identify cerebral phenotypical specializations responsible for the differentiated behaviors between castes of bees, ants and wasps, employing experimental and observation techniques to define the behavioral repertoire of individuals with known age and establish a parallel between chemical identity and cerebral architecture, utilizing gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry and confocal fluorescence microscopy. (AU)