Caste-biased Expression of fem and Amdsx Genes in Apis mellifera ligustica (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

Sociobiology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 68 (2) ◽  
pp. 5654
Author(s):  
Lu-Xia Pan ◽  
Fu-Ping Cheng ◽  
Zi-Long Wang
Keyword(s):  
Apis Mellifera ◽  
Sex Determination ◽  
Juvenile Hormone ◽  
Caste Differentiation ◽  
Apis Mellifera Ligustica

Sex determination and caste differentiation are two crucial processes for morphology building in honeybees. It is unclear whether there is an interaction between these two processes. Here, we investigated the expression of fem and Amdsx genes between female castes of honeybees. We found that the expression of fem and Amdsx is significantly higher in queens than in workers, and this expression was positively regulated by juvenile hormone (JH). Our results suggest that sex-determining genes fem and Amdsx are also involved in honeybee caste differentiation.

scholarly journals Honeybee (Apis mellifera) Maternal Effect Causes Alternation of DNA Methylation Regulating Queen Development

Sociobiology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 68 (1) ◽  
pp. 5935
Author(s):  
Xu Jiang He ◽  
Hao Wei ◽  
Wu Jun Jiang ◽  
Yi Bo Liu ◽  
Xiao Bo Wu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dna Methylation ◽  
Apis Mellifera ◽  
Signaling Pathways ◽  
Maternal Effect ◽  
Caste Differentiation ◽  
Hippo Signaling ◽  
Thorax Length ◽  
Queen Cell ◽  
Epigenetic Analysis ◽  
Worker Caste

Queen-worker caste dimorphism is a typical trait for honeybees (Apis mellifera). We previously showed a maternal effect on caste differentiation and queen development, where queens emerged from queen-cell eggs (QE) had higher quality than queens developed from worker cell eggs (WE). In this study, newly-emerged queens were reared from QE, WE, and 2-day worker larvae (2L). The thorax size and DNA methylation levels of queens were measured. We found that queens emerging from QE had significantly larger thorax length and width than WE and 2L. Epigenetic analysis showed that QE/2L comparison had the most different methylated genes (DMGs, 612) followed by WE/2L (473), and QE/WE (371). Interestingly, a great number of DMGs (42) were in genes belonging to mTOR, MAPK, Wnt, Notch, Hedgehog, FoxO, and Hippo signaling pathways that are involved in regulating caste differentiation, reproduction and longevity. This study proved that honeybee maternal effect causes epigenetic alteration regulating caste differentiation and queen development.

scholarly journals Effects of juvenile hormone and ecdysone on the timing of vitellogenin appearance in hemolymph of queen and worker pupae of Apis mellifera

2002 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angel Roberto Barchuk ◽  
Marcia Maria Gentile Bitondi ◽  
Zilá Luz Paulino Simões
Keyword(s):  
Apis Mellifera ◽  
Juvenile Hormone
Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document