SIBO: A Social Insect Behavior Ontology for Ants and Bees

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SIBO A Social Insect Behavior Ontology for Ants
and Bees

• Christopher D. Smith Ph.D.Assistant Professor
  Bioinformatics
• San Francisco State University
• San Francisco, CA 94132
• smithcd_at_sfsu.edu
• Drosophila Heterochromatin Genome
  ProjectLawrence Berkeley National LabBerkeley,
  CA 94720
• www.dhgp.org
• cdsmith_at_fruitfly.org

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Drosophila melanogaster

• 100 years of experimental data
• Complete sequenced genome
• Many well-characterized behavior other
  phenotypes
• Microarray other large scale datasets

Adams Venter et. al. Science. 2000 Mar
24287(5461)2185-95.
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Genes Often Very Conserved in Metazoans

• Eyeless is a classic example
• No eyes in flies, mice
• Human Blindness (Aniridia)
• Numerous Other examples
• Alcoholism
• cheapdate cAMP signaling
• LUSH odorant receptor
• Learning Memory
• dunce cAMP metabolism
• Limb Development (Homeotic)

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Cooperativity D. melanogaster dunce gene
involved in learning group behavior

• dunce cAMP phosphodiesterase
• Search Aggregation in Drosophila group
  advantage in finding good
• Tinette Robichon. Genes Brain Behav. 2004
  Feb3(1)39-50.
• dunce overexpressed on worker bees relative to
  queen in bees
• Judice Pereira. Insect Molecular Biology
  (2006) 15 (1), 33-44.
• dunce ortholog dunce-like genes related to
  schizophrenia in humans Millar Morteous.
  Science Vol.310. no. 5751, pp. 1187.

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Numerous Insect Genomes Available
Million Years
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Eusocial Insects Are Overdue for Genomics

• Extensive Natural History Literature
• Behavior Assays Already Developed
• Extensive Epigenetic Caste Regulation
• Lifespan
• Morphology
• Complex Social Behavior
• Leverage Drosophila and use genetic, genomic,
  phenotype data
• Social Insect Similarities to Humans
• Dominant global species
• Individualism
• Slavery, Policing reviewed in The Ants E. O
  Wilson
• Agriculture Mueller Schultz. Science, v2812034
• Teaching Franks Richardson. Nature. v439153

gt11,500 Ant species gt25,000 Bee species gt2800
Termite Species
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Eusocial Insects Differeniate into Castes with
Distinct Behaviors Shapes

• Eusocial Hallmarks
• Division of labor- Workers, Soldier, Queens, etc
• Sterile Castes (not reqd)- Single Multiple
  Queens possible
• Multiple generations lives in nest - Older
  generations care for younger
• Social behavior NOT genetically defined
• Eusocial behavior has arisen many times in
  different species
• Genetic predisposition, but no hard-corded
  castes
• Castes are temporally regulated in some species
• Behavior is epigenetically regulated
• Genetically identical individuals express
  different phenotypes

Image Credit Amy Beaton, Rubin
Lab http//www.bdgp.org/cgi-bin/ex/insitu.pl
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Caste Programming Depend on Hormones
Environment Cues
Abouheif Wray Evolution of the Gene Network
Underlying Wing Polyphenism in Ants Science 12
July 2002?Vol. 297. no. 5579, pp. 249 - 252
JH Juvenile Hormone
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Covergent Behaviors in Ants Bees
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Worker Queen Bees Express Unique Gene Subsets

• Genetically identical animals exhibit widely
  varied gene expression profiles
• Numerous caste specific genes have been
  identified in bees, ants termites
• With completion of beenome many more behavioral
  microarray expts. planned

Wheeler et. al. Expression profiles during
honeybee caste determination GenomeBiology2000,
2(1)research0001.1-0001.6
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Identification of Putative Orthologs

• TBLASTN approach using the Comparative Genomics
  Library (CGL)
• Best multiple-hit used to determine
  orthologous exons
• Orthologous introns inferred when both flanking
  exons are found

CG40919
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Behaviors can be linked to SNPs

• Africanized bees
• Pursue Enemy 10-30x further
• More reactive to color, movement
• 4-10x stinging
• Disengage less
• Alert quickly
• Larger defense perimeter
• Using comparative annotation we can link
  Africanized SNPs to gene and regulatory
  annotations
• e.g. Dopamine receptor mutations
• DRD4
• e.g. Serotonin promoter polymorphism
• hSlc6a4,dSerT

Adapted from Breed Hunt 2004. Annu. Rev.
Entolom. 49271-98
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Seeding the Ontology

• Currently only 100 terms
• Estimated 3500 behaviors in ants and bees
• Derived from Drosophila GO behavior terms and
  bee/ant literature

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Link Behaviors to Language Genes

• Ants have more chemical producing glands than any
  known organism
• Queens can chemically inhibit fertility through
  colony
• Queens can call group alarm for attack
  defense
• Workers can communicate novel information to
  others back and forth (i.e. teaching)
• Link Behaviors to Chemicals
• e.g. Mortician Ants respond to oleate from
  decomposition

Reviewed in Holldobler Wilson, The Ants, 1990
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Eusocial Insects Use a Complex Chemical Language
that is Genetically Defined

• Language is an important aspect of social
  evolution across taxa
• High-density
• Peer Conflict Resolution
• Division of labor
• Group Defense
• Ants Can Read Hundreds of Chemicals
• Few receptors known
• Biogenic Amines
• e.g. octapamine involved in honeybee aggression
• Few genes identified

Reviewed in Holldobler Wilson, The Ants, 1990
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Semiochemical Anatomy Ontology

• derives_from relationships need to be defined

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Linking Behavior, Anatomy, Semiochemicals
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Present Future work

• Collection of terms definition from honeybee
  and ant literature community
• Prioritization of behaviors associated to genes
  discovered in behavioral microarray experiments
• Curation of derives_from relationships for
  semiochemicals and anatomy
• Curation of precedes and follows
  relationships for behavior actions (e.g. mating)
• Adaptation of Drosophila anatomy onotology for
  honeybees and ants
• Determination of cross-products with other
  ontologies such as CHEBI and GO

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Ackowledgements

• Drosophila Heterochromatin Genome Project (DHGP)
• Chris Mungall - Databases, Ontologies
• Nicole Washington - PATO
• Suzanna Lewis- Group Leader
• John Richter - OBO-Edit
• Collaborators
• Neil Tsutsui - UC Irvine
• Chris Elsik - BeeBase

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