Federico Lopez

@flopezos.bsky.social

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Evolutionary biology, genomics, bioinformatics, social insects.

The electrical activity of dsx+ cells was silenced using the hM4Di chemogenetic system. (A) Sex- and caste-specific signals (32) generate dsx+ cells involved in the control of worker behaviours (14). F and red represent female-specific regulated products, and purple indicates the signals that regulate the caste-specific spatial expression of the dsx gene in worker and queen honeybee brains (14). (B) Schematic that illustrates the mode of action of the hM4Di chemogenetic system. hM4Di is a membrane receptor protein that mediates the silencing of neurons via canonical Gi pathways. Application of the ligand C21 activates the hM4Di receptor and the Gi pathway, which directs the inhibition of adenylyl cyclase (AC activity) and hyperpolarisation of the cell, which is driven by the efflux of K+ ions. AC: adenylyl cyclase; ATP: adenosine triphosphate; cAMP: cyclic adenosine monophosphate; PKA: protein kinase A; hM4Di: human muscarinic M4 DREADD, inhibitory; Gi: G protein alpha/beta/gamma subunit, inhibitory type; GIRK: G protein–coupled inwardly rectifying potassium channel. (C) Site-specific integration of the donor DNA fragment with its hM4Di receptor gene into the dsx locus. (D) Generation of dsxhM4Di/wt worker bees. Female embryos were injected and reared in queens. Biallelic dsxhM4Di/ hM4Di queens were selected and inseminated with semen from wild-type drones. These queens produced dsxhM4Di/wt worker progenies that were heterozygous for the hM4Di allele.