IFIBYNE   05513
INSTITUTO DE FISIOLOGIA, BIOLOGIA MOLECULAR Y NEUROCIENCIAS
Unidad Ejecutora - UE
congresos y reuniones científicas
Título:
Bacterial LPS induces sickness behavior in honey bees
Autor/es:
NADIA KAZLAUSKAS; MARTIN KLAPPENBACH; AMAICHA DEPINO; FERNANDO LOCATELLI
Reunión:
Congreso; XXX Annual Meeting of Argentinean Society for Neuroscience; 2015
Resumen:
During an infection, animals suffer several changes in their normal physiology and behaviorwhich can include lethargy, appetite loss and reduction in grooming and generalmovement. These sets of alterations are known as sickness behavior and although theyhave been extensively believed to be orchestrated primarily by the immune system, arelevant role for the central nervous system has also been established recently.The aim of our work is to develop a simple animal model to study how both of thesesystems interact during an infection. We administered a bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS)into the thorax of honey bees to mimic a bacterial infection, and then we evaluated a set ofstereotyped behaviors of the animals.First, we showed that this immune challenge reduces the locomotor activity of the animalsin a narrow time window after LPS injection. Furthermore, bees exhibit a loss of appetite60 and 90 minutes after injection, but not 24 hours later. We also demonstrated that LPSinjection reduces spontaneous antennal movements in harnessed animals, which suggestsa reduction in the motivational state of the bees. Finally, we showed that the LPS injectiondiminish the interaction between animals, a crucial behavior in social insects.These findingsprove the honey bee as a useful insect model for the study of the sickness behavior