The honeybee, Apis mellifera, has been the most important insect species for the study of social behaviour. With the recent release of its genome sequence, the honeybee has emerged as an excellent model for molecular studies of social behaviour. A key feature of eusocial species is a complex division of labour. Adult honeybees perform a series of tasks in the hive when they are young and then shift to foraging for nectar or pollen outside the hive when they are 2-3 weeks of age. This transition from working in the hive to foraging involves changes in the expression of thousands of genes. In this review, we focus first on recent advances in understanding of the widespread changes in gene activity that accompany the transition to foraging. Thereafter, we examine three genes in particular, foraging, malvolio and vitellogenin, all implicated in this striking behavioural change in the life of the honeybee.

中文翻译：

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从蜜蜂研究中洞察社会行为的分子基础，Apis mellifera。

蜜蜂，Apis mellifera，一直是研究社会行为的最重要的昆虫物种。随着最近发布的基因组序列，蜜蜂已成为社会行为分子研究的优秀模型。真社会物种的一个关键特征是复杂的劳动分工。成年蜜蜂在幼年时在蜂巢中执行一系列任务，然后在 2-3 周大时转向在蜂巢外觅食花蜜或花粉。这种从在蜂巢中工作到觅食的转变涉及数千个基因表达的变化。在这篇综述中，我们首先关注最近在理解伴随着向觅食过渡的基因活动的广泛变化方面的进展。此后，我们特别检查了三个基因，觅食、malvolio 和卵黄蛋白原，