Sarah Kocher, Ph.D.

Research

The Kocher lab studies how genes and environment shape social behavior in sweat bees. Sweat bees are part of a large family of small, nonaggressive bees. In this diverse group, some sweat bee species lead solitary lives, some establish cooperative colonies like those of honeybees, and some are “socially flexible”—living individually or in groups. Through genomic comparisons of sweat bee species, my lab uncovered strong patterns of selection correlated with social behavior on genes that bind and transport juvenile hormone, a major hormone in insects that regulates their development and maturation. Now, using an array of techniques in molecular and cellular genetics and genomics, my lab will assess how exposure to juvenile hormone—or to fellow bees—during key periods of development influences the behavior and neurobiology of socially flexible sweat bees. We will also examine how neural composition and gene expression patterns differ in the brains of social and solitary bee species. Because many of the mechanisms that modulate behavior are conserved across insects and vertebrates, and because some of the genes associated with social behavior in sweat bees have also been implicated in autism, this work could lead to identification of novel targets for disorders that affect social communication.