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SUMMARY:Oral transfer of chemical cues\, growth proteins and hormones: cro
 wdsourcing development in social insects - Adria Le Boeuf\, University of 
 Lausanne
DTSTART:20161025T150000Z
DTEND:20161025T160000Z
UID:TALK67002@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Dr Hannah Rowland
DESCRIPTION:Social insects frequently engage in oral fluid exchange – tr
 ophallaxis – between adults\, and between adults and larvae. Although tr
 ophallaxis is widely considered a mode of food-sharing\, we hypothesized t
 hat endogenous components of this fluid might underlie a novel means of ch
 emical communication between colony members. Through protein and small-mol
 ecule mass spectrometry and RNA sequencing\, we found that trophallactic f
 luid in the ant Camponotus floridanus contains a set of specific digestion
 - and non-digestion related proteins\, as well as hydrocarbons\, microRNAs
 \, and Juvenile Hormone\, an important developmental regulator. When C. fl
 oridanus workers’ food was supplemented with this hormone\, the larvae t
 hey reared via trophallaxis were twice as likely to complete metamorphosis
  and became larger workers. Comparison of trophallactic fluid proteins acr
 oss social insect species revealed that many are regulators of growth\, de
 velopment and behavioral maturation. These results suggest that trophallax
 is may play a role in communication and enable communal control of colony 
 phenotypes.
LOCATION:Part II Lecture Theatre\, Department of Zoology
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