The queen bee of insect science, the Insect Cryobiology and Ecophysiology Network (ICE), has been awarded a $5.86 million grant from the National Science Foundation’s Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research, and the University of Wyoming gets a share of the honey.
Michael Dillon, an associate professor in the UW Department of Zoology and Physiology, was awarded $2.37 million of the funds as part of ICE’s four-year research project entitled “Integrating Genomics, Physiology and Modeling.” Dillon and other scientists on the project will study how bees survive the harsh winter conditions, such as how a queen bee overcomes frigid temperatures in the Snowy Range.
“Bees and other animals and plants that live in temperate climates, like Wyoming, spend as much as three-quarters of their lives overwintering,” Dillon said in a UW release. “But, except in rare cases, we often ignore winter when we study them. Beyond simply having to survive through winter, the condition bees are in when spring finally comes will strongly affect whether they are successful in the growing season (spring and fall). So, though often overlooked, what happens to bees in winter is likely profoundly important.”
Researchers will address several components of bees’ winter-time lives: how bees prepare for the winter ahead of time, lowest temperatures bees can survive, amount of variation in the temperature can the bees handle as a clan and how is the ecosystem affected by the habitation plans of the bee clans.
Dillon received part of the grant because of his membership in the ICE Network, an organization of genomics, physiology and ecology modeling experts who study how bee species manage winter conditions.
“I have studied physiology of insects – in particular, bees – for many years,” Dillon said. “Colleagues at NDSU [North Dakota State University], the lead institution, brought me on board, as we have complementary expertise. So, we are ideally poised to tackle the ‘genome to phenome’ approach necessary for this grant. The planned work spans from the level of molecules and genes to whole animal function, to modeling at continental scales the predicted effects of changing winter temperatures on bees.”
Other individuals who will be assisting Dillon in the “genome to phenome” research are Julia Bowsher, a NDSU associate professor of evolutionary and developmental biology who will be the team leader made up of participants in three states of this research; Joseph Rinehart, a research biologist with the Agricultural Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture; Kendrick Greenlee, a NDSU associate professor in insect physiology and immunology; and Brook Milligan, a New Mexico State University biology professor. The grant will also allow graduate students at participating universities a chance to be involved with the research.
