High-throughput olfactory conditioning and memory retention test show variation in Nasonia parasitic wasps.

Details

Serval ID
serval:BIB_1BC92DAB17A2
Type
Article: article from journal or magazin.
Collection
Publications
Title
High-throughput olfactory conditioning and memory retention test show variation in Nasonia parasitic wasps.
Journal
Genes, Brain, and Behavior
Author(s)
Hoedjes K.M., Steidle J.L., Werren J.H., Vet L.E., Smid H.M.
ISSN
1601-183X (Electronic)
ISSN-L
1601-183X
Publication state
Published
Issued date
2012
Peer-reviewed
Oui
Volume
11
Number
7
Pages
879-887
Language
english
Abstract
Most of our knowledge on learning and memory formation results from extensive studies on a small number of animal species. Although features and cellular pathways of learning and memory are highly similar in this diverse group of species, there are also subtle differences. Closely related species of parasitic wasps display substantial variation in memory dynamics and can be instrumental to understanding both the adaptive benefit of and mechanisms underlying this variation. Parasitic wasps of the genus Nasonia offer excellent opportunities for multidisciplinary research on this topic. Genetic and genomic resources available for Nasonia are unrivaled among parasitic wasps, providing tools for genetic dissection of mechanisms that cause differences in learning. This study presents a robust, high-throughput method for olfactory conditioning of Nasonia using a host encounter as reward. A T-maze olfactometer facilitates high-throughput memory retention testing and employs standardized odors of equal detectability, as quantified by electroantennogram recordings. Using this setup, differences in memory retention between Nasonia species were shown. In both Nasonia vitripennis and Nasonia longicornis, memory was observed up to at least 5 days after a single conditioning trial, whereas Nasonia giraulti lost its memory after 2 days. This difference in learning may be an adaptation to species-specific differences in ecological factors, for example, host preference. The high-throughput methods for conditioning and memory retention testing are essential tools to study both ultimate and proximate factors that cause variation in learning and memory formation in Nasonia and other parasitic wasp species.
Keywords
Animals, Conditioning (Psychology), High-Throughput Screening Assays/methods, Maze Learning, Neuropsychological Tests, Olfactory Perception/physiology, Retention (Psychology), Wasps/physiology
Pubmed
Web of science
Create date
19/12/2014 18:13
Last modification date
20/08/2019 12:52
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