NEUROanatomy, neurochemistry and genotype: genetic diversity and division of labour in leaf-cutting ANTs

Información del proyecto

NEUROANT

Identificador del acuerdo de subvención: 255463

Proyecto cerrado

Fecha de inicio 10 Enero 2011

Fecha de finalización 9 Enero 2013

Financiado con arreglo a

• Specific programme "People" implementing the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007 to 2013)

Coste total € 240 289,60

Aportación de la UE € 240 289,60

Coordinado por

UNIVERSITY OF LEEDS
Reino Unido

Objetivo

The discovery and characterizations of neuromechanisms that mediate the genotypic changes in behaviour is a premier paradigm in biology today. The difficulty in finding defined answers rests in the multiplication of confounding factors (environment, individual behavioural flexibility, genotypic variation and polygenetic traits) and the limited sample size for comparison. This project will use social insect colonies to overcome these issues to answer this question. The project will use the leaf-cutting ant, Acromrymex echinatior, as the model species because this ant has recently been shown to exhibit genetic influences on caste specialization, has colonies headed by single queens mated to multiple males, thus producing genetically diverse offspring, and has colony sizes that will produce numerous individuals from each paternal line. Therefore, ants from a single colony share a common environment, the same maternal genotype on average but can differ in their paternal genotype, and are behaviourally specialized. We will use molecular techniques to characterize the genotypic variations among behaviourally specialized ants of different patrilines from single colonies. We will combine this with testing whether there are neuroanatomical and neurochemical differences between these ants to establish the neuromechanisms underpinning genetic variation in division of labour. Ant brains will be assayed utilizing serial sectioning at the light and electron microscopy levels for brain morphology and immunocytochemistry, visualized with laser confocal microscopy and HPLC for direct measurement for biogenic amine analysis. This study will provide answers to the neuromechanisms governing genotypically derived behaviours.

Ámbito científico (EuroSciVoc)

CORDIS clasifica los proyectos con EuroSciVoc, una taxonomía plurilingüe de ámbitos científicos, mediante un proceso semiautomático basado en técnicas de procesamiento del lenguaje natural. Véase: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.

• ciencias naturales › ciencias físicas › óptica › microscopía › electron microscopy
• ciencias naturales › ciencias biológicas › zoología › entomología
• ciencias naturales › ciencias físicas › óptica › microscopía › microscopía confocal
• ciencias naturales › ciencias químicas › química orgánica › aminas
• ciencias naturales › ciencias físicas › óptica › física del láser

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Programa(s)

• FP7-PEOPLE - Specific programme "People" implementing the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007 to 2013)

Tema(s)

• FP7-PEOPLE-2009-IIF - Marie Curie Action: "International Incoming Fellowships"

Convocatoria de propuestas

FP7-PEOPLE-2009-IIF
Consulte otros proyectos de esta convocatoria

Régimen de financiación

MC-IIF -

Coordinador

UNIVERSITY OF LEEDS

• Aportación de la UE: € 240 289,60
• Dirección: WOODHOUSE LANE ; LS2 9JT Leeds ; Reino Unido
• Región: Yorkshire and the Humber › West Yorkshire › Leeds
• Tipo de actividad: Institutos de educación secundaria o superior
• Coste total: Sin datos