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Preliminary evidence for differences in neurotransmitter concentrations in the brains of africanized and european Apis mellifera

Joel Last^I; Richard H. Snider Jr.^I; Richard B. Rosse^I; Stephen I. Deutscht^I; Walter S. Sheppard^II; David De Jong^III; Carolyn F. Masters^IV; Ivan N. Mefford^IV; John T. Siipson^IV

^IDepartment of Veterans Affairs, Medical Center, Washington, DC 20422, USA
^IIUnited States Department of Agriculture, Bee Research Laboratory, Beltsville, MD 20705, USA. Send correspondence to W.S.S.
^IIIUniversidade de São Paulo, Faculdade de Medicina, Departamento de Genética, 14049-900 Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brasil
^IVNational Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA

ABSTRACT

Behavioral differences in defensive behavior are well-documented between Africanized and European honey bees. Since variation in neurotransmitter and neurotransmitter metabolite concentrations have been associated with behavioral differences in animals, we investigated brain neurotransmitter and neurotransmitter metabolite levels in honey bees of European and Africanized origin. The following neurotransmitters were examined: norepinephrine (NE), dopamine (DA), 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC), homovanillic acid (HVA), 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA), gamma-amino butyric acid (GABA), and beta-alanine. Significant differences in the levels of beta-alanine were found in the brains of Africanized and European strains of Apis mellifera. While it would be premature to attribute the differences in behavior between the two strains to these differences in neurotransmitter levels, the differences reported here may be worthy of further attention. Confirmation of the neurotransmitter differences we detected using more extensive colony sampling and crossing experiments would provide evidence for a subspecific genetic basis for the variation.

Keywords: neurotransmitter; brains of africanized; brains of european; Apis mellifera.

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