![]() ![]() Social influences on the ontogeny of circadian rhythms. For example, we study various brood stages and brood pheromones. Given that the main activity of nurses is brood care, we hypothesized that plasticity in their circadian clock is regulated by signals from the brood. Another research effort aims at understanding the social factors regulating plasticity in circadian rhythms. Thus, we try to understand the mechanisms of natural plasticity in circadian rhythms by comparing the circadian system of nurses and foragers. But the clock of nurses active around the clock in a constant hive environment does not stop. A genome-wide brain gene expression analyses further shows that approximately 160 brain transcripts oscillate in nurses compared to about 540 in foragers. The oscillations in brain transcript levels of five clock genes are attenuated or totally suppressed in nurses relative to foragers, irrespective of the illumination regime. We showed that around-the-clock activity of nurses cannot be explained by their younger age or constant environment. Thus, we suggest that around-the-clock activity enables mothers to provide improved care during critical stages of progeny development.Ī major effort in our research has been to elucidate the mechanisms underlying plasticity in the circadian clock. Interestingly, maternal care is also associated with around-the-clock activity in other species such as dolphins and killer whales. Older bees that typically forage outside the hive have strong circadian rhythms and rely on their clock for time-compensated sun compass navigation, dance communication, and for timing visits to flowers. Bee larvae require constant care and "nurse" bees work arrhythmically around-the-clock to provide it. ![]() In workers, this remarkable plasticity appears to mesh with their division of labor, a fundamental organization principle of insect societies. ![]() In social insects plasticity in circadian rhythms is associated with their social behavior. Nevertheless, recent studies in ecologically relevant contexts revealed that many animal species, ranging from open sea fish to social insects, naturally show extended periods of around-the-clock activity with attenuated or no circadian rhythms, and no apparent ill effects. Studies with humans and model organisms established that genetic or environmental disturbances to circadian clocks or the rhythms they produce are associated with diseases, compromised performance, and reduced survival. Circadian clocks are ubiquitous in animals. Task-related plasticity in circadian rhythms. The wealth of knowledge on the behavioral ecology and sociobiology of bees makes them an excellent model system to study circadian rhythms in the context of complex natural behavior. However, relatively little is known about clocks in the 'real world'. Laboratory studies with mice and flies have remarkably extended our understanding of the molecular and neuronal bases of circadian rhythms and photic entrainment. ![]()
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