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Gonadotropic effects of dopamine in isolated workers of the primitively eusocial wasp, Polistes chinensis

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Abstract

In social insects, biogenic amines are thought to play regulatory roles in the transition between reproductive states in females. To determine the effect of dopamine on the reproductive development of workers in primitively eusocial societies, isolated workers of the paper wasp Polistes chinensis were supplied with oral dopamine. Ovarian development was accelerated in dopamine-fed workers as compared to control workers of the same age fed only sucrose solution. Oral dopamine increased brain levels of dopamine and its metabolite (N-acetyldopamine). Brain levels of tyramine or octopamine were also increased by dopamine application in one of two colonies; levels of the tyramine metabolite N-acetyltyramine were unchanged. These results indicate that dopamine plays a gonadotropic role in isolated workers in the primitively eusocial wasp, similar to the gonadotropic role previously reported for juvenile hormone. This is the first study to report effects of dopamine on ovarian development in workers of the paper wasp.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (20033020) to KS and TN and (20770059) to KS from the MEXT.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Brain and Bioinformation Science, Kanazawa Institute of Technology, 3-1 Yakkaho, Hakusan, Ishikawa, 924-0838, Japan

    Ken Sasaki & Takashi Nagao

  2. Laboratory of Insect Ecology, Faculty of Applied Biological Sciences, Gifu University, Yanagido 1-1, Gifu, 501-1193, Japan

    Kazuhisa Yamasaki & Koji Tsuchida

Authors
  1. Ken Sasaki
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  2. Kazuhisa Yamasaki
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  3. Koji Tsuchida
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  4. Takashi Nagao
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ken Sasaki.

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Communicated by J. Heinze

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Sasaki, K., Yamasaki, K., Tsuchida, K. et al. Gonadotropic effects of dopamine in isolated workers of the primitively eusocial wasp, Polistes chinensis . Naturwissenschaften 96, 625–629 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-009-0510-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-009-0510-4

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