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Background  The division of labor in social insect colonies involves transitions by workers from one task to another and is critical to the organization and ecological success of colonies. The differential regulation of genetic pathways is likely to be a key mechanism involved in plasticity of social insect task behavior. One of the few pathways implicated in social organization involves the cGMP-activated protein kinase gene,  foraging , a gene associated with  foraging  behavior in social insect species. The association of the  foraging  gene with behavior is conserved across diverse species, but the observed expression patterns and proposed functions of this gene vary across taxa. We compared the protein sequence of  foraging  across social insects and explored whether the differential regulation of this gene is associated with task behaviors in the harvester ant,  Pogonomyrmex occidentalis .    Results  Phylogenetic analysis of the coding region of the  foraging  gene reveals considerable conservation in protein sequence across insects, particularly among hymenopteran species. The absence of amino acid variation in key active and binding sites suggests that differences in behaviors associated with this gene among species may be the result of changes in gene expression rather than gene divergence. Using real time qPCR analyses with a harvester ant ortholog to  foraging  ( Pofor ), we found that the brains of harvester ant foragers have a daily fluctuation in expression of  foraging  with mRNA levels peaking at midday. In contrast, young workers inside the nest have low levels of  Pofor  mRNA with no evidence of daily fluctuations in expression. As a result, the association of  foraging  expression with task behavior within a species changes depending on the time of day the individuals are sampled.    Conclusions  The amino acid protein sequence of  foraging  is highly conserved across social insects. Differences in foraging behaviors associated with this gene among social insect species are likely due to differences in gene regulation rather than evolutionary changes in the encoded protein. The task-specific expression patterns of  foraging  are consistent with the task-specific circadian rhythms observed in harvester ants. Whether the molecular clock plays a role in regulating  foraging  gene expression (or vice versa) remains to be determined. Our results represent the first time series analysis of  foraging  gene expression and underscore the importance of assaying time-related expression differences in behavioral studies. Understanding how this gene is regulated within species is critical to explaining the mechanism by which  foraging  influences behavior.

Differential regulation of the foraging gene associated with task behaviors in harvester ants