In ants and other social insects, social recognition relies on multicomponent chemical signatures, composed primarily of long-chain cuticular hydrocarbons. These signatures are colony specific and allow discrimination between nestmates and non-nestmates. Nevertheless, the mechanisms underlying detection, perception and information processing

of chemical signatures are poorly understood. It has been suggested that associative learning might play a role in nestmate recognition. We investigated whether Camponotus aethiops ants can associate a complete cuticular hydrocarbon profile, consisting of about 40 compounds, with a food reward and whether the new association, developed in an SCH727965 price appetitive context, affects aggression against non-nestmates carrying the hydrocarbon profile associated A-1331852 research buy with food. Individual ant workers were able to associate the non-nestmate chemical profile with food. However, conditioned

ants were still aggressive when encountering a non-nestmate carrying the odour profile used as training odour in our experiments. This suggests that ants, like some, but not all other insects, show interactions between different modalities (i.e. olfactory and visual), and can treat complex chemical cues differently, according to the context in which they are perceived. This plasticity ensures that learning in an appetitive context does not interfere with the crucial task of colony defence. (C) 2010 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.”
“BackgroundDepletion

of the Ca2+ store by ryanodine receptor (RyR) agonists induces store-operated Ca2+ entry (SOCE). 4-Chloro-3-ethylphenol (4-CEP) and 4-chloro-m-cresol (4-CmC) are RyR agonists commonly used as research tools and diagnostic reagents for malignant hyperthermia. Here, we investigated the effects of 4-CEP and its analogues on SOCE. Experimental ApproachSOCE and ORAI1-3 find more currents were recorded by Ca2+ imaging and whole-cell patch recordings in rat L6 myoblasts and in HEK293 cells overexpressing STIM1/ORAI1-3. Key Results4-CEP induced a significant release of Ca2+ in rat L6 myoblasts, but inhibited SOCE. The inhibitory effect was concentration-dependent and more potent than its analogues 4-CmC and 4-chlorophenol (4-ClP). In the HEK293 T-REx cells overexpressing STIM1/ORAI1-3, 4-CEP inhibited the ORAI1, ORAI2 and ORAI3 currents evoked by thapsigargin. The 2-APB-induced ORAI3 current was also blocked by 4-CEP. This inhibitory effect was reversible and independent of the Ca2+ release. The two analogues, 4-CmC and 4-ClP, also inhibited the ORAI1-3 channels. Excised patch and intracellular application of 4-CEP demonstrated that the action site was located extracellularly.