Because of inhibition or dysfunction of ATP SU5416 production via oxidative phosphorylation, blocking the electron flow of the respiratory chain. Reduced ADP, caused by a lack of physical exercise, may also inhibit the turning over of electrons and keep the ETC more reduced. As the electron flow is inhibited, not only do more reactive electrons accumulate, but oxygen levels increase as well. This may increase the probability that backed up electrons and oxygen will react and produce free radicals. The electron transport chain is composed of protein complexes whose individual protein subunits are encoded in either nuclear or mitochondrial DNA. Nonsynonymous single nucleotide polymorphisms in any of the genes encoding ETC subunits could alter the quality of electron flow or affect CoQ binding sites, and subsequently affect ROS production, aging and longevity. Our future experiments will look at sensing of competition by de-flagellated cells and by those cells residing in biofilms. The latter are known to shed flagella upon switching from planktonic to biofilm mode of life. Alternatively, it is possible that lectin type of interactions could be involved in tactile recognition of a competing strain. Such interactions could be probed with the help of specific blocking agents. Regulation of Bmi-1 by microRNAs is exciting given that Bmi-1 is over-expressed in medulloblastoma and critical for normal cerebellar development. While, there is increasing appreciation for the role of serotonin, noradrenaline and dopamine pathways in energy homeostasis and hence as targets for development of effective anti-obesity agents, we did not detect associations of significant importance with obesity. At first step, our results suggested that 5HT2C – 759C/T and COMT 29438A/G is associated with IGT and T2D, but partly independent of obesity. This paradox could be explained if the mechanisms involved in olfactory discrimination differ between nestmate recognition and the binary discrimination tasks mentioned above, emphasizing e.g. either speed or accuracy of responses. The studies on honeybees and mammals were indeed performed in an appetitive context, i.e. subjects were given a food reward if they completed the discrimination task correctly. In that case, task efficiency depends mainly on the accuracy of the answers, and there is little to gain from an increase in speed. Nestmate recognition, on the contrary, requires fast reactions to ensure maximal efficiency in colony defense. It therefore appears that different strategies for information processing may have evolved in the olfactory system of insects to optimize responses in different contexts, just as described for visual and auditory systems in mammals. However, our results also implied that the combined genotypes of 5HT2C -759C/T and COMT 29438A/G may have an impact on obesity and thus, in this way, on the development of IGT or T2D.