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Zhu C, Li H, Xu X, Zhou S, Zhou B, Li X, Xu H, Tian Y, Wang Y, Chu Y, Zhang X, Zhu X. The mushroom body development and learning ability of adult honeybees are influenced by cold exposure during their early pupal stage. Front Physiol 2023; 14:1173808. [PMID: 37153230 PMCID: PMC10157483 DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2023.1173808] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2023] [Accepted: 04/12/2023] [Indexed: 05/09/2023] Open
Abstract
The honeybees are the most important pollinator in the production of crops and fresh produce. Temperature affects the survival of honeybees, and determines the quality of their development, which is of great significance for beekeeping production. Yet, little was known about how does low temperature stress during development stage cause bee death and any sub-lethal effect on subsequent. Early pupal stage is the most sensitive stage to low temperature in pupal stage. In this study, early pupal broods were exposed to 20°C for 12, 16, 24, and 48 h, followed by incubation at 35°C until emergence. We found that 48 h of low temperature duration cause 70% of individual bees to die. Although the mortality at 12 and 16 h seems not very high, the association learning ability of the surviving individuals was greatly affected. The brain slices of honeybees showed that low temperature treatment could cause the brain development of honeybees to almost stop. Gene expression profiles between low temperature treatment groups (T24, T48) and the control revealed that 1,267 and 1,174 genes were differentially expressed respectively. Functional enrichment analysis of differentially expressed genes showed that the differential expression of Map3k9, Dhrs4, and Sod-2 genes on MAPK and peroxisome signaling pathway caused oxidative damage to the honeybee head. On the FoxO signal pathway, InsR and FoxO were upregulated, and JNK, Akt, and Bsk were downregulated; and on the insect hormone synthesis signal pathway, Phm and Spo genes were downregulated. Therefore, we speculate that low temperature stress affects hormone regulation. It was detected that the pathways related to the nervous system were Cholinergic synapse, Dopaminergic synapse, GABAergic synapse, Glutamatergic synapse, Serotonergic synapse, Neurotrophin signaling pathway, and Synaptic vesicle cycle. This implies that the synaptic development of honeybees is quite possibly greatly affected by low temperature stress. Understanding how low temperature stress affects the physiology of bee brain development and how it affects bee behavior provide a theoretical foundation for a deeper comprehension of the temperature adaptation mechanism that underlies the "stenothermic" development of social insects, and help to improve honeybee management strategies to ensure the healthy of colony.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chenyu Zhu
- College of Animal Science (College of Bee Science), Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, China
| | - Han Li
- College of Animal Science (College of Bee Science), Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, China
| | - Xinjian Xu
- College of Animal Science (College of Bee Science), Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, China
- Honeybee Research Institute, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, China
| | - Shujing Zhou
- College of Animal Science (College of Bee Science), Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, China
- Honeybee Research Institute, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, China
| | - Bingfeng Zhou
- College of Animal Science (College of Bee Science), Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, China
- Honeybee Research Institute, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, China
| | - Xiang Li
- College of Animal Science (College of Bee Science), Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, China
| | - Hongzhi Xu
- College of Animal Science (College of Bee Science), Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, China
| | - Yuanmingyue Tian
- College of Animal Science (College of Bee Science), Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, China
| | - Yanxin Wang
- College of Animal Science (College of Bee Science), Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, China
| | - Yu Chu
- College of Animal Science (College of Bee Science), Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, China
| | - Xianlan Zhang
- College of Animal Science (College of Bee Science), Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, China
| | - Xiangjie Zhu
- College of Animal Science (College of Bee Science), Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, China
- Honeybee Research Institute, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, China
- *Correspondence: Xiangjie Zhu,
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Bataglia L, Simões ZLP, Nunes FMF. Transcriptional expression of m6A and m5C RNA methyltransferase genes in the brain and fat body of honey bee adult workers. Front Cell Dev Biol 2022; 10:921503. [PMID: 36105348 PMCID: PMC9467440 DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2022.921503] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2022] [Accepted: 08/01/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Honey bee (Apis mellifera) adult workers change behaviors and nutrition according to age progression. Young workers, such as nurses, perform in-hive tasks and consume protein-rich pollen, while older workers (foragers) leave the colony to search for food, and consume carbohydrate-rich nectar. These environmentally stimulated events involve transcriptional and DNA epigenetic marks alterations in worker tissues. However, post-transcriptional RNA modifications (epitranscriptomics) are still poorly explored in bees. We investigated the transcriptional profiles of m6A and m5C RNA methyltransferases in the brain and fat body of adult workers of 1) different ages and performing different tasks [nurses of 8 days-old (N-8D) and foragers of 29 days-old (F-29D), sampled from wild-type colonies], and 2) same-aged young workers caged in an incubator and treated with a pollen-rich [PR] or a pollen-deprived [PD] diet for 8 days. In the brain, METTL3, DNMT2, NOP2, NSUN2, NSUN5, and NSUN7 genes increased expression during adulthood (from N-8D to F-29D), while the opposite pattern was observed in the fat body for METTL3, DNMT2, and NSUN2 genes. Regarding diet treatments, high expression levels were observed in the brains of the pollen-deprived group (DNMT2, NOP2, and NSUN2 genes) and the fat bodies of the pollen-rich group (NOP2, NSUN4, and NSUN5 genes) compared to the brains of the PR group and the fat bodies of the PD group, respectively. Our data indicate that RNA epigenetics may be an important regulatory layer in the development of adult workers, presenting tissue-specific signatures of RNA methyltransferases expression in response to age, behavior, and diet content.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luana Bataglia
- Departamento de Genética, Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil
| | - Zilá Luz Paulino Simões
- Departamento de Genética, Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil
- Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Filosofia Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil
| | - Francis Morais Franco Nunes
- Departamento de Genética, Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil
- Departamento de Genética e Evolução, Centro de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde, Universidade Federal de São Carlos, São Carlos, Brazil
- *Correspondence: Francis Morais Franco Nunes,
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