Behavioral and molecular consequences of deficiency of endogenous kynurenines in honeybees (Apis mellifera L.)

Behavioral and histochemical studies demonstrated that endogenous tryptophan metabolites - kynurenines - play a role in the long-term retention of memory traces and the functioning of key components in the (GluR-LIMK1- F-actin) signaling cascade, which mediates these functions. Kynurenine deficiency induced by injections of allopurinol (a tryptophan oxygenase inhibitor) inhibited long-term memory, decreased the level of expression of LIMK1, and produced a paradoxical increase in the F-actin level in the cerebral ganglion in bees. These results are consistent with our previous data obtained in Drosophila with a mutation in the structural gene for tryptophan oxygenase, i.e., the vermilion mutation. © 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, Inc.