The effects of mating and instrumental insemination on queen honey bee flight behaviour and gene expression.
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Kocher SD
PROVIDER: S-EPMC2989600 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Apr
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Publications
The effects of mating and instrumental insemination on queen honey bee flight behaviour and gene expression.
Kocher S D SD Tarpy D R DR Grozinger C M CM
Insect molecular biology 20091211 2
Mating is fundamental to most organisms, although the physiological and transcriptional changes associated with this process have been largely characterized only in Drosophila melanogaster. In this study, we use honey bees as a model system because their queens undergo massive and permanent physiological and behavioural changes following mating. Previous studies have identified changes associated with the transition from a virgin queen to a fully mated, egg-laying queen. Here, we further uncoupl ...[more]
Similar Datasets
Project description:Mating has profound effects on the physiology and behavior of female insects, and in honey bee (Apis mellifera) queens, these changes are permanent. Queens mate with multiple males during a brief period in their early adult lives, and shortly thereafter they initiate egg-laying. Furthermore, the pheromone profiles of mated queens differ from those of virgins, and these pheromones regulate many different aspects of worker behavior and colony organization. While it is clear that mating causes dramatic changes in queens, it is unclear if mating number has more subtle effects on queen physiology or queen-worker interactions; indeed, the effect of multiple matings on female insect physiology has not been broadly addressed. Because it is not possible to control the natural mating behavior of queens, we used instrumental insemination and compared queens inseminated with semen from either a single drone (single-drone inseminated, or SDI) or 10 drones (multi-drone inseminated, or MDI). We used observation hives to monitor attraction of workers to SDI or MDI queens in colonies, and cage studies to monitor the attraction of workers to virgin, SDI, and MDI queen mandibular gland extracts (the main source of queen pheromone). The chemical profiles of the mandibular glands of virgin, SDI, and MDI queens were characterized using GC-MS. Finally, we measured brain expression levels in SDI and MDI queens of a gene associated with phototaxis in worker honey bees (Amfor). Here, we demonstrate for the first time that insemination quantity significantly affects mandibular gland chemical profiles, queen-worker interactions, and brain gene expression. Further research will be necessary to elucidate the mechanistic bases for these effects: insemination volume, sperm and seminal protein quantity, and genetic diversity of the sperm may all be important factors contributing to this profound change in honey bee queen physiology, queen behavior, and social interactions in the colony.
| S-EPMC1989138 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Mating is fundamental to the success and reproduction of most organisms, although the physiological and transcriptional changes associated with this process have been largely characterized only in Drosophila. In this study, we use honey bees as a model system since their queens undergo massive and permanent physiological and behavioral changes following mating. Previous studies have identified changes associated with the transition from a virgin queen to a fully-mated, egg-laying queen. Here, we further uncouple the mating process to examine the effects of natural mating vs. instrumental insemination and saline vs. semen insemination. We observed significant overlap between our study and analogous studies in Drosophila, suggesting that some post-mating mechanisms are conserved across insect orders.
2009-12-01 | E-MEXP-2205 | biostudies-arrayexpress
Project description:BackgroundThe molecular mechanisms underlying the post-mating behavioral and physiological transitions undergone by females have not been explored in great detail. Honey bees represent an excellent model system in which to address these questions because they exhibit a range of "mating states," with two extremes (virgins and egg-laying, mated queens) that differ dramatically in their behavior, pheromone profiles, and physiology. We used an incompletely-mated mating-state to understand the molecular processes that underlie the transition from a virgin to a mated, egg-laying queen. We used same-aged virgins, queens that mated once but did not initiate egg-laying, and queens that mated once and initiated egg-laying.ResultsDifferences in the behavior and physiology among groups correlated with the underlying variance observed in the top 50 predictive genes in the brains and the ovaries. These changes were correlated with either a behaviorally-associated pattern or a physiologically-associated pattern. Overall, these results suggest that the brains and the ovaries of queens are uncoupled or follow different timescales; the initiation of mating triggers immediate changes in the ovaries, while changes in the brain may require additional stimuli or take a longer time to complete. Comparison of our results to previous studies of post-mating changes in Drosophila melanogaster identified common biological processes affected by mating, including stress response and alternative-splicing pathways. Comparison with microarray data sets related to worker behavior revealed no obvious correlation between genes regulated by mating and genes regulated by behavior/physiology in workers.ConclusionStudying the underlying molecular mechanisms of post-mating changes in honey bee queens will not only give us insight into how molecular mechanisms regulate physiological and behavioral changes, but they may also lead to important insights into the evolution of social behavior. Post-mating changes in gene regulation in the brains and ovaries of honey bee queens appear to be triggered by different stimuli and may occur on different timescales, potentially allowing changes in the brains and the ovaries to be uncoupled.
| S-EPMC2413142 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Honey bees move through a series of in-hive tasks (e.g., "nursing") to outside tasks (e.g., "foraging") that are coincident with physiological changes and higher levels of metabolic activity. Social context can cause worker bees to speed up or slow down this process, and foragers may revert back to their earlier in-hive tasks accompanied by reversion to earlier physiological states. To investigate the effects of flight, behavioral state and age on gene expression, we used whole-genome microarrays and real-time PCR. Brain tissue and flight muscle exhibited different patterns of expression during behavioral transitions, with expression patterns in the brain reflecting both age and behavior, and expression patterns in flight muscle being primarily determined by age. Our data suggest that the transition from behaviors requiring little to no flight (nursing) to those requiring prolonged flight bouts (foraging), rather than the amount of previous flight per se, has a major effect on gene expression. Following behavioral reversion there was a partial reversion in gene expression but some aspects of forager expression patterns, such as those for genes involved in immune function, remained. Combined with our real-time PCR data, these data suggest an epigenetic control and energy balance role in honey bee functional senescence.
| S-EPMC4553427 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Honey bees move through a series of in-hive tasks (“nursing”) to outside tasks (“foraging”) that coincident with an intense increase in metabolic activity. Social context can cause worker bees to speed up, or slow down this process and foragers may revert back to their earlier in hive tasks accompanied by reversion to earlier physiological states. To determine if the transcriptional profile of forager bees can revert, or if the effects of flight on gene expression are irreversible, we used whole-genome microarrays. Brain tissue and flight muscle exhibited independent patterns of expression during behavioral transitions, with patterns of expression in the brain reflecting both age and behavior, while flight muscle exhibited primarily age-related patterns of expression. Our data suggest that the transition from little to no flight (nurse) to intense flight (forager), rather than the amount of flight has a major effect on gene expression. Following behavioral reversion there was a partial reversion in gene expression but some aspects of forager expression patterns, such as those for genes involved in immune function, remained. These data suggest an epigenetic control and energy balance role in honey bee functional senescence.
2012-10-01 | GSE40650 | GEO
Project description:As the sole reproductive female in a honey bee (Apis mellifera) colony, the queen's health is critical to colony productivity and longevity. Beekeeping operations typically rely on the commercial mass production of queens for colony multiplication, which involves manipulating and isolating the queens by confining them in cages during early development. Using common queen-rearing techniques, this study shows that segregating newly eclosed queens from their worker attendants for 72 hours using queen protector cages has a significant impact on the total amount of gut bacteria carried by those queens compared to queens that have unrestricted access to attendants upon eclosion. Isolated virgin queens sampled immediately after isolation at 4 days post eclosure had significantly more bacteria and a less consistent microbiota composition than their non-isolated peers. Furthermore, this effect lasted into the mating life of queens, since mated queens that had been isolated after emergence and then sampled at 14 days post eclosure also had significantly more microbiota compared to non-isolated mated queens of the same age. The causes and potential impacts of this alteration are not clear and deserve further investigation. This study also verifies earlier findings that honey bee queens lack the core microbiome found within honey bee workers.
| S-EPMC6042773 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Honey bees move through a series of in-hive tasks (M-bM-^@M-^\nursingM-bM-^@M-^]) to outside tasks (M-bM-^@M-^\foragingM-bM-^@M-^]) that coincident with an intense increase in metabolic activity. Social context can cause worker bees to speed up, or slow down this process and foragers may revert back to their earlier in hive tasks accompanied by reversion to earlier physiological states. To determine if the transcriptional profile of forager bees can revert, or if the effects of flight on gene expression are irreversible, we used whole-genome microarrays. Brain tissue and flight muscle exhibited independent patterns of expression during behavioral transitions, with patterns of expression in the brain reflecting both age and behavior, while flight muscle exhibited primarily age-related patterns of expression. Our data suggest that the transition from little to no flight (nurse) to intense flight (forager), rather than the amount of flight has a major effect on gene expression. Following behavioral reversion there was a partial reversion in gene expression but some aspects of forager expression patterns, such as those for genes involved in immune function, remained. These data suggest an epigenetic control and energy balance role in honey bee functional senescence. Brains and thoraces from the same individuals of all behavioral groups were compared on a total of 132 arrays. The samples were hybridized against each other using a loop design. The groups tested are outlined as follows: Typical aged nurse 'YN' (8-10 days old; <1 day flight experience), Precocious forager 'PF' (8 to 10 days old; 2 to 3 days flight experience), Overaged nurse 'ON' (19 to 22 days old; < 1 day flight experience), Forager - low flight 'TFL' (19 to 22 days old; 2 to 3 days flight experience), Forager - high flight 'TFH' ( 19 to 22 days old; 7 to 9 days flight experience), Forager - old 'OF' (25 to 26 days old; 10 to 12 days flight experience), Reverted nurse 'RN' (25 to 26 days old; 7 to 9 days flight experience). The comparisons are outlined as follows: YN:ON (6 arrays), ON:RN (6 arrays), RN:TFH (6 arrays), TFH:TFL (6 arrays), TFL:PF (6 arrays), PF:YN (6 arrays), ON:TFL (12 arrays), YN:OF (6 arrays), OF:RN (6 arrays), RN:YN (6 arrays). Each comparison was done for individual brains and thoraces. Total: 132 arrays
2012-10-01 | E-GEOD-40650 | biostudies-arrayexpress
Project description:Canadian beekeepers have faced high colony mortality each winter over the last decade. Frequently citing "poor queen quality" as a top contributing factor to colony loss, Canadian beekeepers report needing to replace half their queens each year. Domestic queen production exists throughout Canada but is limited due to the short season and can be further limited when colony mortality is high. Consequently, Canadian beekeepers import over 260,000 queens annually, primarily from locations with warmer climates. In this study, newly mated imported queens from Hawaii (USA) and New Zealand were compared to domestic Canadian queens produced in British Columbia; these stocks were evaluated on their morphological and sperm storage characteristics. Stock quality was also evaluated in the field at two locations in Alberta, Canada over two production seasons. Our results show initial variation in queen morphology and fertility among imported and domestic queen stocks. Most striking, the New Zealand queens weighed 10-13% less than the Hawaii and British Columbia queens, respectively upon arrival. Colony performance over a two-year field study suggests: (1) brood pattern solidness has a positive nonlinear correlation with honey production regardless of queen stock and environment; (2) environment (i.e., apiary location) and queen stock variably predict colony health and productivity depending on year; specifically, apiary site appears to be a stronger predictor of colony health and productivity than queen stock in year one, but in year two, queen stock appears to be a stronger predictor than apiary site; (3) high clinical symptoms of chalkbrood may explain the prevalence of poor brood patterns in colonies headed by queens from New Zealand; (4) domestic queens are 25% more likely to survive winter in Alberta than imported queens. Therefore, it is important to consider possible mismatches in disease immunity and climate conditioning of imported queen stocks heading colonies in temperate regions that face drastically different seasonal climates and disease ecology dynamics.
| S-EPMC10570385 | biostudies-literature
Project description:In most animals, longevity is achieved at the expense of fertility, but queen honey bees do not show this tradeoff. Queens are both long-lived and fertile, whereas workers, derived from the same genome, are both relatively short-lived and normally sterile. It has been suggested, on the basis of results from workers, that vitellogenin (Vg), best known as a yolk protein synthesized in the abdominal fat body, acts as an antioxidant to promote longevity in queen bees. We explored this hypothesis, as well as related roles of insulin-IGF-1 signaling and juvenile hormone. Vg was expressed in thorax and head fat body cells in an age-dependent manner, with old queens showing much higher expression than workers. In contrast, Vg expression in worker head was much lower. Queens also were more resistant to oxidative stress than workers. These results support the hypothesis that caste-specific differences in Vg expression are involved in queen longevity. Consistent with predictions from Drosophila, old queens had lower head expression of insulin-like peptide and its putative receptors than did old workers. Juvenile hormone affected the expression of Vg and insulin-IGF-1 signaling genes in opposite directions. These results suggest that conserved and species-specific mechanisms interact to regulate queen bee longevity without sacrificing fecundity.
| S-EPMC1852330 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Honey bee (Apis mellifera) queens have a remarkable organ, the spermatheca, which successfully stores sperm for years after a virgin queen mates. This study uniquely characterized and quantified the transcriptomes of the spermathecae from mated and virgin honey bee queens via RNA sequencing to identify differences in mRNA levels based on a queen's mating status. The transcriptome of drone semen was analyzed for comparison. Samples from three individual bees were independently analyzed for mated queen spermathecae and virgin queen spermathecae, and three pools of semen from ten drones each were collected from three separate colonies. In total, the expression of 11,233 genes was identified in mated queen spermathecae, 10,521 in virgin queen spermathecae, and 10,407 in drone semen. Using a cutoff log2 fold-change value of 2.0, we identified 212 differentially expressed genes between mated and virgin spermathecal queen tissues: 129 (1.4% of total) were up-regulated and 83 (0.9% of total) were down-regulated in mated queen spermathecae. Three genes in mated queen spermathecae, three genes in virgin queen spermathecae and four genes in drone semen that were more highly expressed in those tissues from the RNA sequencing data were further validated by real time quantitative PCR. Among others, expression of Kielin/chordin-like and Trehalase mRNAs was highest in the spermathecae of mated queens compared to virgin queen spermathecae and drone semen. Expression of the mRNA encoding Alpha glucosidase 2 was higher in the spermathecae of virgin queens. Finally, expression of Facilitated trehalose transporter 1 mRNA was greatest in drone semen. This is the first characterization of gene expression in the spermathecae of honey bee queens revealing the alterations in mRNA levels within them after mating. Future studies will extend to other reproductive tissues with the purpose of relating levels of specific mRNAs to the functional competence of honey bee queens and the colonies they head.
| S-EPMC7793254 | biostudies-literature