Development and Molecular Bases

Question 1

what does genes code for?

Answer 1

genes code for protein, not behavior or traits

Question 2

what is the role of the honeybee queen?

Answer 2

egglaying machines

Question 3

what is the role of the honeybee workers?

Answer 3

• care of larvae
• construct honeycomb
• defend colony
• collect nectar & pollen (forager)

Question 4

how does juvenile hormone affect honeybees?

Answer 4

young nurses trated with JH -> forager
no JH -> delayed transition to foraging

Question 5

where is JH produced

Answer 5

from corpora allata gland

Question 6

receptor antagonist

Answer 6

blocks receptor

Question 7

how does ethyl oleate affect honeybees?

Answer 7

interactions with foragers via ethly oleate

Question 8

how is gene expression regulated?

Answer 8

DNA methylation and histone acetylation

Question 9

DNA methylation

Answer 9

methylated generally decreases gene expression

Question 10

histone acetylation

Answer 10

acetylated histone increases gene expression

Question 11

role of miRNA

Answer 11

• mrRNA is a non-coding segment
• it binds to the mRNA to block translation
• degradation -> reduced protein expression

Question 12

is gene expression more affected by role or age?

Answer 12

affected by role, independent of age

Question 13

what is the diet for queen honeybees?

Answer 13

royal jelly - thought to contain royalactin that regulates queen development

Question 14

what does worker larvae eat?

Answer 14

jelly enriched with pollen

Question 15

how does pollen enriched jelly affect the role of honeybees?

Answer 15

pollen contains plant produced miRNA -> reduces expression of TOR

Question 16

what is TOR and how does it relate to honeybees’s role?

Answer 16

TOR promotes increased size and ovary development -> being worker instead of queen

Question 17

what is forward genetics research?

Answer 17

measure behavior and gene expressions -> association/correlation but NOT causation

Question 18

what is backwards genetics researching?

Answer 18

manipulate gene expression -> look for changes in behavior

Question 19

what are the common roles for vasopressin and oxytocin?

Answer 19

• both produced in the hypothalamus
• influences on emotional, motivational and behaviors (social & sexual)
• regulation of food intake, body weight, electrolyte balance, body temperature, reproduction, sleep-wake cycle, circadian rhythms, stress response

Question 20

what does vasopressin regulate?

Answer 20

controls water balance - production of urine

Question 21

what does oxytocin regulate?

Answer 21

contraction of uterus - parturition
contraction of mammillary glands - lactation

Question 22

what is the role of ventral pallidum?

Answer 22

reward, motivation and decision making

Question 23

what is the role of lateral septum?

Answer 23

emotional regulation and spatial behaviors

Question 24

what are the expression levels in ventral pallidum and lateral septum for male voles?

Answer 24

VP: high in monogamous
LS: high in non-monogamous

Question 25

microsatellites

Answer 25

sections of repeated sequences

Question 26

are mutations more or less likely to occur in microsatellites?

Answer 26

more likely than other dna sequences

Question 27

behavioral polymorphism

Answer 27

2+ distinct behavioral phenotypes in a population

Question 28

genetic polymorphism

Answer 28

multiple alleles -> dramatic behavior differences in the population

Question 29

phenotypic plasticity

Answer 29

irreversible: honeybees workers and queens reversible: some animal or plants changes their colour or shape according to the environment

Question 30

V1aR promoter

Answer 30

present in monogamous prairie voles while promiscuous lack

Question 31

retrosplenial cortex

Answer 31

a region used for spatial navigation and memory

Question 32

what are the evolutionary cost and benefits for intra-pair fertilizers?

Answer 32

spend more energy protecting their territory and have fewer reproductions

Question 33

how does redundancy in gene networks relate to developmental homeostasis?

Answer 33

multiple gene regulating same genetic network -> knockout of one gene won't lead to major differences

Question 34

developmental constraint hypothesis

Answer 34

phenotypic adjustments made to cope with adverse early life conditions can have negative affect future fitness

Question 35

predictive adaptive response hypothesis

Answer 35

phenotypic adjustments during development to match conditions later in life can positively affect future fitness - e.g. hares and lynx

Question 36

GnRH gene

Answer 36

social regulation of appearance, behavior, growth & reproduction

Question 37

what is supergene and how does it result in different morphology?

Answer 37

recombination occurs -> gene inverted the whole sequence X recombine and acts as a single unit -> different morphology