@article{FalibeneRocesRoessleretal.2016,
  author    = {Falibene, Augustine and Roces, Flavio and R{\"o}ssler, Wolfgang and Groh, Claudia},
  title     = {Daily Thermal Fluctuations Experienced by Pupae via Rhythmic Nursing Behavior Increase Numbers of Mushroom Body Microglomeruli in the Adult Ant Brain},
  series = {Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience},
  volume    = {10},
  journal   = {Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience},
  number    = {73},
  doi       = {10.3389/fnbeh.2016.00073},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-146711},
  year      = {2016},
  abstract  = {Social insects control brood development by using different thermoregulatory strategies. Camponotus mus ants expose their brood to daily temperature fluctuations by translocating them inside the nest following a circadian rhythm of thermal preferences. At the middle of the photophase brood is moved to locations at 30.8°C; 8 h later, during the night, the brood is transferred back to locations at 27.5°C. We investigated whether daily thermal fluctuations experienced by developing pupae affect the neuroarchitecture in the adult brain, in particular in sensory input regions of the mushroom bodies (MB calyces). The complexity of synaptic microcircuits was estimated by quantifying MB-calyx volumes together with densities of presynaptic boutons of microglomeruli (MG) in the olfactory lip and visual collar regions. We compared young adult workers that were reared either under controlled daily thermal fluctuations of different amplitudes, or at different constant temperatures. Thermal regimes significantly affected the large (non-dense) olfactory lip region of the adult MB calyx, while changes in the dense lip and the visual collar were less evident. Thermal fluctuations mimicking the amplitudes of natural temperature fluctuations via circadian rhythmic translocation of pupae by nurses (amplitude 3.3°C) lead to higher numbers of MG in the MB calyces compared to those in pupae reared at smaller or larger thermal amplitudes (0.0, 1.5, 9.6°C), or at constant temperatures (25.4, 35.0°C). We conclude that rhythmic control of brood temperature by nursing ants optimizes brain development by increasing MG densities and numbers in specific brain areas. Resulting differences in synaptic microcircuits are expected to affect sensory processing and learning abilities in adult ants, and may also promote interindividual behavioral variability within colonies.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{SommerlandtSpaetheRoessleretal.2016,
  author    = {Sommerlandt, Frank M. J. and Spaethe, Johannes and R{\"o}ssler, Wolfgang and Dyer, Adrian G.},
  title     = {Does Fine Color Discrimination Learning in Free-Flying Honeybees Change Mushroom-Body Calyx Neuroarchitecture?},
  series = {PLoS One},
  volume    = {11},
  journal   = {PLoS One},
  number    = {10},
  doi       = {10.1371/journal.pone.0164386},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-147932},
  pages     = {e0164386},
  year      = {2016},
  abstract  = {Honeybees learn color information of rewarding flowers and recall these memories in future decisions. For fine color discrimination, bees require differential conditioning with a concurrent presentation of target and distractor stimuli to form a long-term memory. Here we investigated whether the long-term storage of color information shapes the neural network of microglomeruli in the mushroom body calyces and if this depends on the type of conditioning. Free-flying honeybees were individually trained to a pair of perceptually similar colors in either absolute conditioning towards one of the colors or in differential conditioning with both colors. Subsequently, bees of either conditioning groups were tested in non-rewarded discrimination tests with the two colors. Only bees trained with differential conditioning preferred the previously learned color, whereas bees of the absolute conditioning group, and a stimuli-na{\"i}ve group, chose randomly among color stimuli. All bees were then kept individually for three days in the dark to allow for complete long-term memory formation. Whole-mount immunostaining was subsequently used to quantify variation of microglomeruli number and density in the mushroom-body lip and collar. We found no significant differences among groups in neuropil volumes and total microglomeruli numbers, but learning performance was negatively correlated with microglomeruli density in the absolute conditioning group. Based on these findings we aim to promote future research approaches combining behaviorally relevant color learning tests in honeybees under free-flight conditions with neuroimaging analysis; we also discuss possible limitations of this approach.q},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{SenthilanHelfrichFoerster2016,
  author    = {Senthilan, Pingkalai R. and Helfrich-F{\"o}rster, Charlotte},
  title     = {Rhodopsin 7-The unusual Rhodopsin in Drosophila},
  series = {PeerJ},
  volume    = {4},
  journal   = {PeerJ},
  doi       = {10.7717/peerj.2427},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-177998},
  year      = {2016},
  abstract  = {Rhodopsins are the major photopigments in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. Drosophila express six well-characterized Rhodopsins (Rh1-Rh6) with distinct absorption maxima and expression pattern. In 2000, when the Drosophila genome was published, a novel Rhodopsin gene was discovered: Rhodopsin 7 (Rh7). Rh7 is highly conserved among the Drosophila genus and is also found in other arthropods. Phylogenetic trees based on protein sequences suggest that the seven Drosophila Rhodopsins cluster in three different groups. While Rh1, Rh2 and Rh6 form a "vertebrate-melanopsin-type"-cluster, and Rh3, Rh4 and Rh5 form an "insect-type"-Rhodopsin cluster, Rh7 seem to form its own cluster. Although Rh7 has nearly all important features of a functional Rhodopsin, it differs from other Rhodopsins in its genomic and structural properties, suggesting it might have an overall different role than other known Rhodopsins.},
  language  = {en}
}