GABA signaling affects motor function in the honey bee

GABA is the most common inhibitory neurotransmitter in both vertebrate and invertebrate nervous systems. In insects, inhibition plays important roles at the neuromuscular junction, in the regulation of central pattern generators, and in the modulation of information in higher brain processing centers. Additionally, increasing our understanding of the functions of GABA is important since GABA(A) receptors are the targets of several classes of pesticides. To investigate the role of GABA in motor function, honey bee foragers were injected with GABA or with agonists or antagonists specific for either GABA(A) or GABA(B) receptors. Compounds that activated either type of GABA receptor decreased activity levels. Bees injected with the GABA(A) receptor antagonist picrotoxin lost the ability to right themselves, whereas blockade of GABA(B) receptors led to increases in grooming. Injection with antagonists of either GABA(A) or GABA(B) receptors resulted in an increase in extended wing behavior, during which bees kept their wings out at right angles to their body rather than folded along their back. These data suggest that the GABA receptor types play distinct roles in behavior and that GABA may affect behavior at several different levels.