<?xml version='1.0'?>
<!DOCTYPE art SYSTEM 'http://www.biomedcentral.com/xml/article.dtd'>
<art>
   <ui>gb-spotlight-20020429-01</ui>
   <ji>GBJ</ji>
   <fm>
      <dochead>Research news</dochead>
      <bibl>
         <title>
            <p>Bee behavior</p>
         </title>
         <aug>
            <au id="A1">
               <snm>Weitzman</snm>
               <mi>B</mi>
               <fnm>Jonathan</fnm>
               <email>jonathanweitzman@hotmail.com</email>
            </au>
         </aug>
         <source>Genome Biology</source>
         <issn>1465-6906</issn>
         <pubdate>2002</pubdate>
         <volume>3</volume>
         <fpage>spotlight-20020429-01</fpage>
         <xrefbib>
            <pubid idtype="doi">10.1186/gb-spotlight-20020429-01</pubid>
         </xrefbib>
      </bibl>
      <history>
         <pub>
            <date>
               <day>29</day>
               <month>4</month>
               <year>2002</year>
            </date>
         </pub>
      </history>
      <cpyrt>
         <year>2002</year>
         <collab>BioMed Central Ltd</collab>
      </cpyrt>
      <shortabs>
         <p>Changes in enzyme expression levels affect bee food-searching behavior.</p>
      </shortabs>
   </fm>
   <meta>
      <classifications>
         <classification type="news" subtype="status">Archive</classification>
      </classifications>
   </meta>
   <bdy>
      <sec>
         <st>
            <p/>
         </st>
         <p>The insect <abbr bid="B1"><it>foraging (for)</it></abbr> gene encodes a cyclic GMP-dependent protein kinase (PKG) that affects foraging behavior. In <it>Drosophila</it> two different <it>for</it> alleles have been found, and the two alleles affect food-searching behavior under different ecological conditions. In the April 26 <abbr bid="B2"><it>Science</it></abbr>, Ben-Shahar <it>et al.</it> describe changes in <it>for</it> expression during bee development (<it>Science</it> 2002, <b>296:</b>741-744). They studied the honeybee (<it>Apis mellifera</it>), which undergoes an age-related developmental switch from hive work to foraging, and cloned the bee <it>for</it> ortholog (<it>Amfor</it>). Ben-Shahar <it>et al.</it> found that foragers had elevated expression of brain <it>Amfor</it>; pharmacological activation of PKG activity also induced foraging activity. <it>Amfor</it> is highly expressed in the lamina of the optic lobes and the mushroom bodies. Thus, changes in <it>Amfor</it> expression and PKG activity contribute to complex behavioral features of bee society.</p>
      </sec>
   </bdy>
   <bm>
      <refgrp>
         <bibl id="B1">
            <note>Natural behavior polymorphism due to a cGMP-dependent protein kinase of Drosophila.</note>
            <xrefbib>
               <pubid idtype="pmpid" link="fulltext">9242616</pubid>
            </xrefbib>
         </bibl>
         <bibl id="B2">
            <url>http://www.sciencemag.org</url>
            <note>
               <it>Science</it>
            </note>
         </bibl>
      </refgrp>
   </bm>
</art>
