Neuropeptides in honey bees

Abstract

Neuropeptides may be the most ancient chemical messengers between neurons. As all insects, bees have a large number of different putative neuropeptides and peptide receptors, most of which have been characterized only poorly, if at all. Therefore, we briefly review the role that neuropeptides play in insect nervous systems, and then review the specific occurrence of peptides in honey bee. A few exemplary peptide families are treated with greater detail, including FMRFamide related peptides (FaRPs), SIFamide, allatostatin A (AST A). While the role of several peptides may or may not correspond to that reported for other insects, but has not yet been investigated in bees specifically (e.g. bursicon and corazonin involved in molting), a few peptides have been analyzed in honey bees (e.g. tachykinin, PBAN, sNPF, which are involved in nectar and pollen foraging). Immunostainings against neuropeptides are also a powerful tool for anatomical studies, because they can be used to characterize small populations of neurons based on their neuropeptide expression patterns.In addition to a short overview about neuropeptides we will include a few unpublished observations about neuropeptide organization in the honey bee brain, especially in the honey bee antennal lobe (AL).