2006年VOA标准英语-Scientists Decode Honey Bee Genome

By Jessica Berman
Washington
26 October 2006

An international consortium of scientists has completed work on deciphering the genome of the honey bee. They hope the work will lead to a better understanding of one of the earth's most social and ecologically important creatures.

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Almost in a class by itself, the western honey bee has evolved from a loner into a complex model for social behavior. The honey bee lives in a hive of thousands of bees in a strict social order.

Through pollination¹, honey bees are also an essential part of global food production.

"This is the first genome sequenced of a social insect to be presented and analyzed," said Gene² Robinson. "Social insects have been extremely important in biology because they exhibit the most extreme form of social behavior that's known."

Gene Robinson is one of the lead authors of the paper describing the honey-bee genome sequence project published in the journal Nature.

In an interview with the editors of Nature, Robinson, who is with the University of Illinois in Urbana, says there are a number of reasons why it is important to understand the molecular³ structure of the honey bee, which appears to have transformed over millions of years to a highly evolved creature.

Humans, too, are highly evolved, and scientists believe clues about bee behavior might explain human traits.

For example, researchers say both bees and humans have genes⁴ that encode a circadian rhythm - an innate⁵ sense of day and night. In the case of bees, the scientists think this makes honey bees more efficient at gathering⁶ food.

Robinson says the bees have more genes that encode the sense of smell than other insects.

"A lot of their social life is coordinated⁷ by odors, in particular by pheromones," he said. "The way they collect food, forage⁸ for food out in the field, find flowers, is by odor of the flowers."

Scientists say pheromones secreted⁹ by bees also determine their place within a complicated social order, including gender¹⁰, age and caste.

Robinson also says honey bees have fewer genes for taste than other insects, which, he speculates, helps them to avoid pesticides¹¹ and plant diseases to find food.

"Traits have evolved to attract them [bees] to the plant to effect pollination," he explained. "So, you know, maybe they do not have to be so worried about their tasting. Now this is extending the findings a good deal into the realm of speculation¹². But this is the kind of filter that we wish to use in the future to sort of take the initial findings that we present here and explore exactly how they relate to bee life."

In a paper published at the same time in the journal Science, researchers analyzing¹³ the honey bee genome report every bee alive today had a common ancestor in Africa. Researchers say the bees spread to Europe in at least two ancient migrations¹⁴.

Also in Science, researchers describe the world's oldest bee fossil.

Entomologist Brian Danforth, of Cornell University in New York says the fossil was found in a piece of Burmese amber¹⁵ believed to be 100 million years old, which would have made it an ancient ancestor of today's honey bee.

"It is a very small bee," he said. "It is about three millimeters long. It does have some of the attributes of modern bees, and some of those attributes are visible in the fossil. So, it has what looks like branched hairs; these are the fluffy¹⁶ hairs that bees have on their legs and all over their bodies actually, that seem to be very good at picking up pollen¹⁷."

But unlike evolved modern honey bees, Danforth thinks the ancient bee was a solitary¹⁸ creature that lived in the ground.

1 pollination   

n.授粉

参考例句：

• The flowers get pollination by insects.这些花通过昆虫授粉。
• Without sufficient pollination,the growth of the corn is stunted.没有得到充足的授粉，谷物的长势就会受阻。

2 gene   

n.遗传因子，基因

参考例句：

• A single gene may have many effects.单一基因可能具有很多种效应。
• The targeting of gene therapy has been paid close attention.其中基因治疗的靶向性是值得密切关注的问题之一。

3 molecular   

adj.分子的；克分子的

参考例句：

• The research will provide direct insight into molecular mechanisms.这项研究将使人能够直接地了解分子的机理。
• For the pressure to become zero, molecular bombardment must cease.当压强趋近于零时，分子的碰撞就停止了。

4 genes   

n.基因( gene的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• You have good genes from your parents, so you should live a long time. 你从父母那儿获得优良的基因，所以能够活得很长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Differences will help to reveal the functions of the genes. 它们间的差异将会帮助我们揭开基因多种功能。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 生物技术的世纪

5 innate   

adj.天生的，固有的，天赋的

参考例句：

• You obviously have an innate talent for music.你显然有天生的音乐才能。
• Correct ideas are not innate in the mind.人的正确思想不是自己头脑中固有的。

6 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

7 coordinated   

adj.协调的

参考例句：

• The sound has to be coordinated with the picture. 声音必须和画面协调一致。
• The numerous existing statutes are complicated and poorly coordinated. 目前繁多的法令既十分复杂又缺乏快调。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

8 forage   

n.(牛马的)饲料，粮草；v.搜寻，翻寻

参考例句：

• They were forced to forage for clothing and fuel.他们不得不去寻找衣服和燃料。
• Now the nutritive value of the forage is reduced.此时牧草的营养价值也下降了。

9 secreted   

v.（尤指动物或植物器官）分泌( secrete的过去式和过去分词 )；隐匿，隐藏

参考例句：

• Insulin is secreted by the pancreas. 胰岛素是胰腺分泌的。
• He secreted his winnings in a drawer. 他把赢来的钱藏在抽届里。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

11 pesticides   

n.杀虫剂( pesticide的名词复数 )；除害药物

参考例句：

• vegetables grown without the use of pesticides 未用杀虫剂种植的蔬菜
• There is a lot of concern over the amount of herbicides and pesticides used in farming. 人们对农业上灭草剂和杀虫剂的用量非常担忧。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。

13 analyzing   

v.分析；分析( analyze的现在分词 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析n.分析

参考例句：

• Analyzing the date of some socialist countries presents even greater problem s. 分析某些社会主义国家的统计数据，暴露出的问题甚至更大。 来自辞典例句
• He undoubtedly was not far off the mark in analyzing its predictions. 当然，他对其预测所作的分析倒也八九不离十。 来自辞典例句

14 migrations   

n.迁移，移居( migration的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• It foundered during the turmoils accompanying the Great Migrations. 它在随着民族大迁徙而出现的混乱中崩溃。 来自辞典例句
• Birds also have built-in timepieces which send them off on fall and spring migrations. 鸟类也有天生的时间感应器指导它们秋春迁移。 来自互联网

15 amber   

n.琥珀；琥珀色；adj.琥珀制的

参考例句：

• Would you like an amber necklace for your birthday?你过生日想要一条琥珀项链吗？
• This is a piece of little amber stones.这是一块小小的琥珀化石。

16 fluffy   

adj.有绒毛的，空洞的

参考例句：

• Newly hatched chicks are like fluffy balls.刚孵出的小鸡像绒毛球。
• The steamed bread is very fluffy.馒头很暄。

17 pollen   

n.[植]花粉

参考例句：

• Hummingbirds have discovered that nectar and pollen are very nutritious.蜂鸟发现花蜜和花粉是很有营养的。
• He developed an allergy to pollen.他对花粉过敏。

18 solitary   

adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士

参考例句：

• I am rather fond of a solitary stroll in the country.我颇喜欢在乡间独自徜徉。
• The castle rises in solitary splendour on the fringe of the desert.这座城堡巍然耸立在沙漠的边际，显得十分壮美。