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Chen J, Guan Z, Ma Y, Shi Q, Chen T, Waris MI, Lyu L, Lu Y, Qi G. Juvenile hormone induces reproduction via miR-1175-3p in the red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta. INSECT SCIENCE 2024; 31:371-386. [PMID: 37933419 DOI: 10.1111/1744-7917.13291] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2023] [Revised: 09/26/2023] [Accepted: 10/10/2023] [Indexed: 11/08/2023]
Abstract
Juvenile hormone (JH) acts in the regulation of caste differentiation between queens and workers (i.e., with or without reproductive capacity) during vitellin synthesis and oogenesis in social insects. However, the regulatory mechanisms have not yet been elucidated. Here, we identified a highly expressed microRNA (miRNA), miR-1175-3p, in the red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta. We found that miR-1175-3p is prominently present in the fat bodies and ovaries of workers. Furthermore, miR-1175-3p interacts with its target gene, broad-complex core (Br-C), in the fat bodies. By utilizing miR-1175-3p agomir, we successfully suppressed the expression of the Br-C protein in queens, resulting in reduced vitellogenin expression, fewer eggs, and poorly developed ovaries. Conversely, decreasing miR-1175-3p levels led to the increased expression of Br-C and vitellogenin in workers, triggering the "re-development" of the ovaries. Moreover, when queens were fed with JH, the expression of miR-1175-3p decreased, whereas the expression of vitellogenin-2 and vitellogenin-3 increased. Notably, the suppression of fertility in queens caused by treatment with agomir miR-1175-3p was completely rescued by the increased vitellogenin expression induced by being fed with JH. These results suggest the critical role of miR-1175-3p in JH-regulated reproduction, shedding light on the molecular mechanism underlying miRNA-mediated fecundity in social insects and providing a novel strategy for managing S. invicta.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jie Chen
- Institute of Plant Protection, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Key Laboratory of Green Prevention and Control on Fruits and Vegetables in South China Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of High Technology for Plant Protection, Guangzhou, China
| | - Ziying Guan
- Institute of Plant Protection, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Key Laboratory of Green Prevention and Control on Fruits and Vegetables in South China Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of High Technology for Plant Protection, Guangzhou, China
| | - Yunjie Ma
- Institute of Plant Protection, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Key Laboratory of Green Prevention and Control on Fruits and Vegetables in South China Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of High Technology for Plant Protection, Guangzhou, China
- Department of Entomology, College of Plant Protection, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Qingxing Shi
- Institute of Plant Protection, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Key Laboratory of Green Prevention and Control on Fruits and Vegetables in South China Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of High Technology for Plant Protection, Guangzhou, China
| | - Ting Chen
- Institute of Plant Protection, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Key Laboratory of Green Prevention and Control on Fruits and Vegetables in South China Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of High Technology for Plant Protection, Guangzhou, China
| | - Muhammad Irfan Waris
- Institute of Plant Protection, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Key Laboratory of Green Prevention and Control on Fruits and Vegetables in South China Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of High Technology for Plant Protection, Guangzhou, China
| | - Lihua Lyu
- Institute of Plant Protection, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Key Laboratory of Green Prevention and Control on Fruits and Vegetables in South China Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of High Technology for Plant Protection, Guangzhou, China
| | - Yongyue Lu
- Department of Entomology, College of Plant Protection, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Guojun Qi
- Institute of Plant Protection, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Key Laboratory of Green Prevention and Control on Fruits and Vegetables in South China Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of High Technology for Plant Protection, Guangzhou, China
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Dong JH, Xu X, Ren ZX, Zhao YH, Zhang Y, Chen L, Wu Y, Chen G, Cao R, Wu Q, Wang H. The adaptation of bumblebees to extremely high elevation associated with their gut microbiota. mSystems 2024; 9:e0121923. [PMID: 38329353 PMCID: PMC10949452 DOI: 10.1128/msystems.01219-23] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2023] [Accepted: 01/09/2024] [Indexed: 02/09/2024] Open
Abstract
Bumblebees are among the most abundant and important pollinators for sub-alpine and alpine flowering plant species in the Northern Hemisphere, but little is known about their adaptations to high elevations. In this article, we focused on two bumblebee species, Bombus friseanus and Bombus prshewalskyi, and their respective gut microbiota. The two species, distributed through the Hengduan Mountains of southwestern China, show species replacement at different elevations. We performed genome sequencing based on 20 worker bee samples of each species. Applying evolutionary population genetics and metagenomic approaches, we detected genes under selection and analyzed functional pathways between bumblebees and their gut microbes. We found clear genetic differentiation between the two host species and significant differences in their microbiota. Species replacement occurred in both hosts and their bacteria (Snodgrassella) with an increase in elevation. These extremely high-elevation bumblebees show evidence of positive selection related to diverse biological processes. Positively selected genes involved in host immune systems probably contributed to gut microbiota changes, while the butyrate generated by gut microbiota may influence both host energy metabolism and immune systems. This suggests a close association between the genomes of the host species and their microbiomes based on some degree of natural selection.IMPORTANCETwo closely related and dominant bumblebee species, distributed at different elevations through the Hengduan Mountains of southwestern China, showed a clear genomic signature of adaptation to elevation at the molecular level and significant differences in their respective microbiota. Species replacement occurred in both hosts and their bacteria (Snodgrassella) with an increase in elevation. Bumblebees' adaptations to higher elevations are closely associated with their gut microbiota through two biological processes: energy metabolism and immune response. Information allowing us to understand the adaptive mechanisms of species to extreme conditions is implicit if we are to conserve them as their environments change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiu-Hong Dong
- State Key Laboratory of Mycology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Xin Xu
- CAS Key Laboratory for Plant Diversity and Biogeography of East Asia, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China
| | - Zong-Xin Ren
- CAS Key Laboratory for Plant Diversity and Biogeography of East Asia, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China
| | - Yan-Hui Zhao
- CAS Key Laboratory for Plant Diversity and Biogeography of East Asia, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China
| | - Yaran Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Mycology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Li Chen
- CAS Key Laboratory for Plant Diversity and Biogeography of East Asia, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - You Wu
- CAS Key Laboratory for Plant Diversity and Biogeography of East Asia, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Guotao Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Mycology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Ruiqing Cao
- State Key Laboratory of Mycology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Qi Wu
- State Key Laboratory of Mycology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Hong Wang
- CAS Key Laboratory for Plant Diversity and Biogeography of East Asia, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China
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Ghanem S, Akülkü İ, Güzle K, Khan Z, Mayack C. Regulation of forager honey bee appetite independent of the glucose-insulin signaling pathway. FRONTIERS IN INSECT SCIENCE 2024; 4:1335350. [PMID: 38469335 PMCID: PMC10926362 DOI: 10.3389/finsc.2024.1335350] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2023] [Accepted: 01/30/2024] [Indexed: 03/13/2024]
Abstract
Introduction To maintain energetic homeostasis the energetic state of the individual needs to communicate with appetite regulatory mechanisms on a regular basis. Although hunger levels indicated by the energetic state and appetite levels, the desire for food intake, tend to be correlated, and on their own are well studied, how the two cross-talk and regulate one another is less known. Insects, in contrast to vertebrates, tend to have trehalose as the primary sugar found in the hemolymph, which could possibly serve as an alternative monitor of the energetic state in comparison to the glucose-insulin signaling pathway, found in vertebrates. Methods We investigate how manipulating hemolymph sugar levels alter the biogenic amines in the honey bee brain, appetite levels, and insulin like peptide gene expression, across three age classes, to determine how the energetic state of the honey bee might be connected to appetite regulation. Results We found that only in the forager bees, with a lowering of hemolymph trehalose levels, there was an increase in octopamine and a decrease in tyramine levels in the honey bee brain that corresponded with increased appetite levels, while there was no significant changes in Insulin Like Peptide-1 or 2 gene expression. Discussion Our findings suggest that hemolymph trehalose levels aid in regulating appetite levels, in forager bees, via octopamine and tyramine, and this regulation appears to be functioning independent of the glucose insulin signaling pathway. Whether this potentially more direct and rapid appetite regulatory pathway can be generalized to other insects, which also undergo energy demanding activities, remains to be investigated.
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Affiliation(s)
- Saleh Ghanem
- Molecular Biology, Genetics, and Bioengineering, Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Sabancı University, Istanbul, Türkiye
| | - İrem Akülkü
- Molecular Biology, Genetics, and Bioengineering, Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Sabancı University, Istanbul, Türkiye
| | - Kübra Güzle
- Molecular Biology, Genetics, and Bioengineering, Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Sabancı University, Istanbul, Türkiye
| | - Zaeema Khan
- Molecular Biology, Genetics, and Bioengineering, Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Sabancı University, Istanbul, Türkiye
| | - Christopher Mayack
- Molecular Biology, Genetics, and Bioengineering, Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Sabancı University, Istanbul, Türkiye
- US Department of Agriculture, Invasive Species and Pollinator Health Research Unit (ISPHRU), Western Regional Research Center (WRRC) in the Pacific West Area (PWA), Davis, CA, United States
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Xiong M, Qin G, Wang L, Wang R, Zhou R, Luo X, Lou Q, Huang S, Li J, Duan X. Field recommended concentrations of pyraclostrobin exposure disturb the development and immune response of worker bees ( Apis mellifera L.) larvae and pupae. Front Physiol 2023; 14:1137264. [PMID: 36846328 PMCID: PMC9947242 DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2023.1137264] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2023] [Accepted: 01/26/2023] [Indexed: 02/11/2023] Open
Abstract
The strobilurin fungicide pyraclostrobin is widely used to prevent and control the fungal diseases of various nectar and pollen plants. Honeybees also directly or indirectly contact this fungicide with a long-term exposure period. However, the effects of pyraclostrobin on the development and physiology of Apis mellifera larvae and pupae during continuous exposure have been rarely known. To investigate the effects of field-realistic concentrations of pyraclostrobin on honeybee survival and development, the 2-day-old larvae were continuously fed with different pyraclostrobin solutions (100 mg/L and 83.3 mg/L), and the expression of development-, nutrient-, and immune-related genes in larvae and pupae were examined. The results showed that two field-realistic concentrations of pyraclostrobin (100 and 83.3 mg/L) significantly decreased the survival and capped rate of larvae, the weight of pupae and newly emerged adults, and such decrease was a positive correlation to the treatment concentrations. qPCR results showed that pyraclostrobin could induce the expression of Usp, ILP2, Vg, Defensin1, and Hymenoptaecin, decrease the expression of Hex100, Apidaecin, and Abaecin in larvae, could increase the expression of Ecr, Usp, Hex70b, Vg, Apidaecin, and Hymenoptaecin, and decreased the expression of ILP1, Hex100 and Defensin1in pupae. These results reflect pyraclostrobin could decrease nutrient metabolism, immune competence and seriously affect the development of honeybees. It should be used cautiously in agricultural practices, especially in the process of bee pollination.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manqiong Xiong
- College of Animal Science (College of Bee Science), Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, China
| | - Gan Qin
- College of Animal Science (College of Bee Science), Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, China
| | - Lizhu Wang
- College of Animal Science (College of Bee Science), Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, China
| | - Ruyi Wang
- College of Animal Science (College of Bee Science), Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, China
| | - Ruiqi Zhou
- College of Animal Science (College of Bee Science), Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, China
| | - Xiaotian Luo
- College of Animal Science (College of Bee Science), Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, China
| | - Qun Lou
- College of Animal Science (College of Bee Science), Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, China
| | - Shaokang Huang
- College of Animal Science (College of Bee Science), Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, China,Fujian Honey Bee Biology Observation Station, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Fuzhou, China
| | - Jianghong Li
- College of Animal Science (College of Bee Science), Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, China,Fujian Honey Bee Biology Observation Station, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Fuzhou, China
| | - Xinle Duan
- College of Animal Science (College of Bee Science), Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, China,Fujian Honey Bee Biology Observation Station, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Fuzhou, China,*Correspondence: Xinle Duan,
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Zhang Y, Li Z, Wang ZL, Zhang LZ, Zeng ZJ. A Comparison of RNA Interference via Injection and Feeding in Honey Bees. INSECTS 2022; 13:928. [PMID: 36292876 PMCID: PMC9604379 DOI: 10.3390/insects13100928] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2022] [Accepted: 10/11/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
RNA interference (RNAi) has been used successfully to reduce target gene expression and induce specific phenotypes in several species. It has proved useful as a tool to investigate gene function and has the potential to manage pest populations and reduce disease pathogens. However, it is not known whether different administration methods are equally effective at interfering with genes in bees. Therefore, we compared the effects of feeding and injection of small interfering RNA (siRNA) on the messenger RNA (mRNA) levels of alpha-aminoadipic semialdehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH7A1), 4-coumarate-CoA ligase (4CL), and heat shock protein 70 (HSP70). Both feeding and injection of siRNA successfully knocked down the gene but feeding required more siRNA than the injection. Our results suggest that both feeding and injection of siRNA effectively interfere with brain genes in bees. The appropriateness of each method would depend on the situation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yong Zhang
- Honeybee Research Institute, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang 330045, China
- Jiangxi Province Key Laboratory of Honeybee Biology and Beekeeping, Nanchang 330045, China
| | - Zhen Li
- Honeybee Research Institute, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang 330045, China
- Jiangxi Province Key Laboratory of Honeybee Biology and Beekeeping, Nanchang 330045, China
| | - Zi-Long Wang
- Honeybee Research Institute, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang 330045, China
- Jiangxi Province Key Laboratory of Honeybee Biology and Beekeeping, Nanchang 330045, China
| | - Li-Zhen Zhang
- Honeybee Research Institute, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang 330045, China
- Jiangxi Province Key Laboratory of Honeybee Biology and Beekeeping, Nanchang 330045, China
| | - Zhi-Jiang Zeng
- Honeybee Research Institute, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang 330045, China
- Jiangxi Province Key Laboratory of Honeybee Biology and Beekeeping, Nanchang 330045, China
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Zhang JB, Lu ZJ, Yu HZ. Silencing of Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3 Significantly Inhibits Chitin and Fatty Acid Metabolism in Asian Citrus Psyllid, Diaphorina citri. Int J Mol Sci 2022; 23:ijms23179654. [PMID: 36077052 PMCID: PMC9455978 DOI: 10.3390/ijms23179654] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/29/2022] [Revised: 08/21/2022] [Accepted: 08/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Glycogen is a predominant carbohydrate reserve in various organisms, which provides energy for different life activities. Glycogen synthase kinase 3 (GSK3) is a central player that catalyzes glucose and converts it into glycogen. In this study, a GSK3 gene was identified from the D. citri genome database and named DcGSK3. A reverse transcription quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) analysis showed that DcGSK3 was expressed at a high level in the head and egg. The silencing of DcGSK3 by RNA interference (RNAi) led to a loss-of-function phenotype. In addition, DcGSK3 knockdown decreased trehalase activity, glycogen, trehalose, glucose and free fatty acid content. Moreover, the expression levels of the genes associated with chitin and fatty acid synthesis were significantly downregulated after the silencing of DcGSK3. According to a comparative transcriptomics analysis, 991 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified in dsDcGSK3 groups compared with dsGFP groups. A KEGG enrichment analysis suggested that these DEGs were primarily involved in carbon and fatty acid metabolism. The clustering analysis of DEGs further confirmed that chitin and fatty acid metabolism-related DEGs were upregulated at 24 h and were downregulated at 48 h. Our results suggest that DcGSK3 plays an important role in regulating the chitin and fatty acid metabolism of D. citri.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jin-Bo Zhang
- College of Life Sciences, Gannan Normal University, Ganzhou 341000, China
| | - Zhan-Jun Lu
- College of Life Sciences, Gannan Normal University, Ganzhou 341000, China
- National Navel Orange Engineering Research Center, Ganzhou 341000, China
- Ganzhou Key Laboratory of Nanling Insect Biology, Ganzhou 341000, China
| | - Hai-Zhong Yu
- College of Life Sciences, Gannan Normal University, Ganzhou 341000, China
- National Navel Orange Engineering Research Center, Ganzhou 341000, China
- Ganzhou Key Laboratory of Nanling Insect Biology, Ganzhou 341000, China
- Correspondence:
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Akülkü İ, Ghanem S, Filiztekin E, Suwannapong G, Mayack C. Age-Dependent Honey Bee Appetite Regulation Is Mediated by Trehalose and Octopamine Baseline Levels. INSECTS 2021; 12:insects12100863. [PMID: 34680632 PMCID: PMC8539172 DOI: 10.3390/insects12100863] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2021] [Revised: 09/21/2021] [Accepted: 09/22/2021] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Simple Summary Appetite regulation is an important function necessary to maintain energetic balance, but how honey bees accomplish this could vary as they age because they go through a number of behavioral and physiological changes during development. Here, we determine if the amount of trehalose, which is a sugar found in the hemolymph of honey bees, influences appetite levels and if this interacts with the octopamine neurotransmitter in the bee brain. To accomplish this, we decreased trehalose levels in the hemolymph by injecting an inhibitor of trehalose synthesis. In addition, we increased octopamine levels in the brain by injecting it with a syringe. We found that octopamine and trehalose interact to increase appetite in the two older age classes of bees, beyond just treating the bees with octopamine. The youngest age class did not respond to either treatment. Our results suggest that older honey bees may have an alternative pathway for regulating appetite that uses sugar levels in their hemolymph to communicate to the brain how hungry they are and that octopamine is responsible for elevating appetite levels when the bee is hungry. This pathway is different from how vertebrates regulate their appetite levels based on glucose levels in the blood. Abstract There are multiple feedback mechanisms involved in appetite regulation, which is an integral part of maintaining energetic homeostasis. Older forager honey bees, in comparison to newly emerged bees and nurse bees, are known to have highly fluctuating hemolymph trehalose levels, higher appetite changes due to starvation, and higher octopamine levels in the brain. What remains unknown is if the hemolymph trehalose and octopamine levels interact with one another and how this varies as the bee ages. We manipulated trehalose and octopamine levels across age using physiological injections and found that nurse and forager bees increase their appetite levels due to increased octopamine levels in the brain. This is further enhanced by lower trehalose levels in the hemolymph. Moreover, nurse bees with high octopamine levels in the brain and low trehalose levels had the same appetite levels as untreated forager bees. Our findings suggest that the naturally higher levels of octopamine as the bee ages may result in higher sensitivity to fluctuating trehalose levels in the hemolymph that results in a more direct way of assessing the energetic state of the individual. Consequently, forager bees have a mechanism for more precise regulation of appetite in comparison to newly emerged and nurse bees.
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Affiliation(s)
- İrem Akülkü
- Molecular Biology, Genetics and Bioengineering, Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Sabancı University, 34956 İstanbul, Turkey; (İ.A.); (S.G.); (E.F.); (C.M.)
| | - Saleh Ghanem
- Molecular Biology, Genetics and Bioengineering, Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Sabancı University, 34956 İstanbul, Turkey; (İ.A.); (S.G.); (E.F.); (C.M.)
| | - Elif Filiztekin
- Molecular Biology, Genetics and Bioengineering, Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Sabancı University, 34956 İstanbul, Turkey; (İ.A.); (S.G.); (E.F.); (C.M.)
| | - Guntima Suwannapong
- Biological Science Program, Faculty of Science, Burapha University, Chon Buri 20131, Thailand
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +66-3810-3088
| | - Christopher Mayack
- Molecular Biology, Genetics and Bioengineering, Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Sabancı University, 34956 İstanbul, Turkey; (İ.A.); (S.G.); (E.F.); (C.M.)
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Chowański S, Walkowiak-Nowicka K, Winkiel M, Marciniak P, Urbański A, Pacholska-Bogalska J. Insulin-Like Peptides and Cross-Talk With Other Factors in the Regulation of Insect Metabolism. Front Physiol 2021; 12:701203. [PMID: 34267679 PMCID: PMC8276055 DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2021.701203] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2021] [Accepted: 06/04/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
The insulin-like peptide (ILP) and insulin-like growth factor (IGF) signalling pathways play a crucial role in the regulation of metabolism, growth and development, fecundity, stress resistance, and lifespan. ILPs are encoded by multigene families that are expressed in nervous and non-nervous organs, including the midgut, salivary glands, and fat body, in a tissue- and stage-specific manner. Thus, more multidirectional and more complex control of insect metabolism can occur. ILPs are not the only factors that regulate metabolism. ILPs interact in many cross-talk interactions of different factors, for example, hormones (peptide and nonpeptide), neurotransmitters and growth factors. These interactions are observed at different levels, and three interactions appear to be the most prominent/significant: (1) coinfluence of ILPs and other factors on the same target cells, (2) influence of ILPs on synthesis/secretion of other factors regulating metabolism, and (3) regulation of activity of cells producing/secreting ILPs by various factors. For example, brain insulin-producing cells co-express sulfakinins (SKs), which are cholecystokinin-like peptides, another key regulator of metabolism, and express receptors for tachykinin-related peptides, the next peptide hormones involved in the control of metabolism. It was also shown that ILPs in Drosophila melanogaster can directly and indirectly regulate AKH. This review presents an overview of the regulatory role of insulin-like peptides in insect metabolism and how these factors interact with other players involved in its regulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Szymon Chowański
- Department of Animal Physiology and Development, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland
| | - Karolina Walkowiak-Nowicka
- Department of Animal Physiology and Development, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland
| | - Magdalena Winkiel
- Department of Animal Physiology and Development, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland
| | - Pawel Marciniak
- Department of Animal Physiology and Development, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland
| | - Arkadiusz Urbański
- Department of Animal Physiology and Development, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland.,HiProMine S.A., Robakowo, Poland
| | - Joanna Pacholska-Bogalska
- Department of Animal Physiology and Development, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland
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Sieber KR, Dorman T, Newell N, Yan H. (Epi)Genetic Mechanisms Underlying the Evolutionary Success of Eusocial Insects. INSECTS 2021; 12:498. [PMID: 34071806 PMCID: PMC8229086 DOI: 10.3390/insects12060498] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2021] [Revised: 05/18/2021] [Accepted: 05/21/2021] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Eusocial insects, such as bees, ants, and wasps of the Hymenoptera and termites of the Blattodea, are able to generate remarkable diversity in morphology and behavior despite being genetically uniform within a colony. Most eusocial insect species display caste structures in which reproductive ability is possessed by a single or a few queens while all other colony members act as workers. However, in some species, caste structure is somewhat plastic, and individuals may switch from one caste or behavioral phenotype to another in response to certain environmental cues. As different castes normally share a common genetic background, it is believed that much of this observed within-colony diversity results from transcriptional differences between individuals. This suggests that epigenetic mechanisms, featured by modified gene expression without changing genes themselves, may play an important role in eusocial insects. Indeed, epigenetic mechanisms such as DNA methylation, histone modifications and non-coding RNAs, have been shown to influence eusocial insects in multiple aspects, along with typical genetic regulation. This review summarizes the most recent findings regarding such mechanisms and their diverse roles in eusocial insects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kayli R. Sieber
- Department of Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA; (K.R.S.); (T.D.); (N.N.)
| | - Taylor Dorman
- Department of Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA; (K.R.S.); (T.D.); (N.N.)
| | - Nicholas Newell
- Department of Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA; (K.R.S.); (T.D.); (N.N.)
| | - Hua Yan
- Department of Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA; (K.R.S.); (T.D.); (N.N.)
- Center for Smell and Taste, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
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Smýkal V, Pivarči M, Provazník J, Bazalová O, Jedlička P, Lukšan O, Horák A, Vaněčková H, Beneš V, Fiala I, Hanus R, Doležel D. Complex Evolution of Insect Insulin Receptors and Homologous Decoy Receptors, and Functional Significance of Their Multiplicity. Mol Biol Evol 2021; 37:1775-1789. [PMID: 32101294 PMCID: PMC7253209 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msaa048] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Evidence accumulates that the functional plasticity of insulin and insulin-like growth factor signaling in insects could spring, among others, from the multiplicity of insulin receptors (InRs). Their multiple variants may be implemented in the control of insect polyphenism, such as wing or caste polyphenism. Here, we present a comprehensive phylogenetic analysis of insect InR sequences in 118 species from 23 orders and investigate the role of three InRs identified in the linden bug, Pyrrhocoris apterus, in wing polymorphism control. We identified two gene clusters (Clusters I and II) resulting from an ancestral duplication in a late ancestor of winged insects, which remained conserved in most lineages, only in some of them being subject to further duplications or losses. One remarkable yet neglected feature of InR evolution is the loss of the tyrosine kinase catalytic domain, giving rise to decoys of InR in both clusters. Within the Cluster I, we confirmed the presence of the secreted decoy of insulin receptor in all studied Muscomorpha. More importantly, we described a new tyrosine kinase-less gene (DR2) in the Cluster II, conserved in apical Holometabola for ∼300 My. We differentially silenced the three P. apterus InRs and confirmed their participation in wing polymorphism control. We observed a pattern of Cluster I and Cluster II InRs impact on wing development, which differed from that postulated in planthoppers, suggesting an independent establishment of insulin/insulin-like growth factor signaling control over wing development, leading to idiosyncrasies in the co-option of multiple InRs in polyphenism control in different taxa.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vlastimil Smýkal
- Institute of Entomology, Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic
| | - Martin Pivarči
- Institute of Entomology, Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic
| | - Jan Provazník
- Institute of Entomology, Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic
| | - Olga Bazalová
- Institute of Entomology, Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic
| | - Pavel Jedlička
- Chemistry of Social Insects, Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Ondřej Lukšan
- Chemistry of Social Insects, Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Aleš Horák
- Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic
| | - Hana Vaněčková
- Institute of Entomology, Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic
| | - Vladimír Beneš
- Genomics Core Facility, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Ivan Fiala
- Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic
| | - Robert Hanus
- Chemistry of Social Insects, Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - David Doležel
- Institute of Entomology, Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic.,Department of Molecular Biology, Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic
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11
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Opachaloemphan C, Mancini G, Konstantinides N, Parikh A, Mlejnek J, Yan H, Reinberg D, Desplan C. Early behavioral and molecular events leading to caste switching in the ant Harpegnathos. Genes Dev 2021; 35:410-424. [PMID: 33602869 PMCID: PMC7919410 DOI: 10.1101/gad.343699.120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/14/2020] [Accepted: 01/15/2021] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Ant societies show a division of labor in which a queen is in charge of reproduction while nonreproductive workers maintain the colony. In Harpegnathos saltator, workers retain reproductive ability, inhibited by the queen pheromones. Following the queen loss, the colony undergoes social unrest with an antennal dueling tournament. Most workers quickly abandon the tournament while a few workers continue the dueling for months and become gamergates (pseudoqueens). However, the temporal dynamics of the social behavior and molecular mechanisms underlining the caste transition and social dominance remain unclear. By tracking behaviors, we show that the gamergate fate is accurately determined 3 d after initiation of the tournament. To identify genetic factors responsible for this commitment, we compared transcriptomes of different tissues between dueling and nondueling workers. We found that juvenile hormone is globally repressed, whereas ecdysone biosynthesis in the ovary is increased in gamergates. We show that molecular changes in the brain serve as earliest caste predictors compared with other tissues. Thus, behavioral and molecular data indicate that despite the prolonged social upheaval, the gamergate fate is rapidly established, suggesting a robust re-establishment of social structure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Comzit Opachaloemphan
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York 10016, USA
| | - Giacomo Mancini
- Department of Biology, New York University, New York, New York 10003, USA
| | | | - Apurva Parikh
- Department of Biology, New York University, New York, New York 10003, USA
| | - Jakub Mlejnek
- Department of Biology, New York University, New York, New York 10003, USA
| | - Hua Yan
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York 10016, USA
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York 10016, USA
| | - Danny Reinberg
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York 10016, USA
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York 10016, USA
| | - Claude Desplan
- Department of Biology, New York University, New York, New York 10003, USA
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12
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IRP30 promotes worker egg-laying in bumblebee, Bombus terrestris (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Gene 2021; 776:145446. [PMID: 33484761 DOI: 10.1016/j.gene.2021.145446] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2020] [Revised: 11/16/2020] [Accepted: 01/13/2021] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Bumblebees are important pollinators that have evolved between solitary and advanced eusocial insects. Compared with advanced honeybees, workers of social bumblebee species are prone to laying eggs during the competition phase, which leads to the end of the colony. Therefore, worker reproductive behavior has become a popular research topic for exploring various biological phenomena. Here, we demonstrate a novel reproduction-related function of an immune response protein-encoding gene (Immune Responsive Protein 30, IRP30) in Bombus terrestris by employing RNA interference (RNAi) and a transgenic Drosophila melanogaster system. The results show that worker egg-laying was significantly affected by IRP30 expression levels (P < 0.01). Compared with those in the dsGFP-treated groups, the first egg-laying time was delayed by 3.7 d and the egg number was decreased by 41% in the dsIRP30-treated group. In addition, the average size of the largest oocyte and the relative mRNA expression levels of Vg (vitellogenin) were significantly reduced in the dsIRP30-treated group (P < 0.05). Cellular localization by immunofluorescence demonstrated that IRP30 has important functions in the germ cells of workers' ovarioles. Overexpression of IRP30 was confirmed to increase the reproductive capability of the transgenic D. melanogaster. In conclusion, IRP30 regulates worker egg-laying by affecting the expression of Vg, the size of the ovary and the formation of the oocyte. These findings provide essential information for understanding the mechanisms underlying worker reproductive regulation.
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13
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Veenstra JA, Leyria J, Orchard I, Lange AB. Identification of Gonadulin and Insulin-Like Growth Factor From Migratory Locusts and Their Importance in Reproduction in Locusta migratoria. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne) 2021; 12:693068. [PMID: 34177814 PMCID: PMC8220825 DOI: 10.3389/fendo.2021.693068] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2021] [Accepted: 05/20/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Many insect species have several genes coding for insulin-related peptides (IRPs), but so far only a single IRP gene has been identified in migratory locusts. Here, we report and characterize two other genes coding for peptides that are related to insulin, namely gonadulin and arthropod insulin-like growth factor (aIGF); peptides postulated to be orthologs of Drosophila melanogaster insulin-like peptides 8 and 6 respectively. In Locusta migratoria the aIGF transcript is expressed in multiple tissues as was previously reported for IRP in both L. migratoria and Schistocerca gregaria, but there are significant differences in expression patterns between the two species. The gonadulin transcript, however, seems specific to the ovary, whereas its putative receptor transcript is expressed most abundantly in the ovary, fat body and the central nervous system. Since the central nervous system-fat body-ovary axis is essential for successful reproduction, we studied the influence of gonadulin on vitellogenesis and oocyte growth. A reduction in the gonadulin transcript (via RNA interference) led to a significant reduction in vitellogenin mRNA levels in the fat body and a strong oocyte growth inhibition, thus suggesting an important role for gonadulin in reproduction in this species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jan A. Veenstra
- INCIA UMR 5287 CNRS, University of Bordeaux, Pessac, France
- *Correspondence: Jan A. Veenstra, ; Jimena Leyria,
| | - Jimena Leyria
- Department of Biology, University of Toronto Mississauga, Mississauga, ON, Canada
- *Correspondence: Jan A. Veenstra, ; Jimena Leyria,
| | - Ian Orchard
- Department of Biology, University of Toronto Mississauga, Mississauga, ON, Canada
| | - Angela B. Lange
- Department of Biology, University of Toronto Mississauga, Mississauga, ON, Canada
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14
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Shih SR, Huntsman EM, Flores ME, Snow JW. Reproductive potential does not cause loss of heat shock response performance in honey bees. Sci Rep 2020; 10:19610. [PMID: 33184302 PMCID: PMC7661715 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-74456-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2020] [Accepted: 09/28/2020] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
In other species characterized to date, aging, as a function of reproductive potential, results in the breakdown of proteaostasis and a decreased capacity to mount responses by the heat shock response (HSR) and other proteostatic network pathways. Our understanding of the maintenance of stress pathways, such as the HSR, in honey bees, and in the reproductive queen in particular, is incomplete. Based on the findings in other species showing an inverse relationship between reproductive potential and HSR function, one might predict that that HSR function would be lost in the reproductive queens. However, as queens possess an atypical uncoupling of the reproduction-maintenance trade-off typically found in solitary organisms, HSR maintenance might also be expected. Here we demonstrate that reproductive potential does not cause loss of HSR performance in honey bees as queens induce target gene expression to levels comparable to those induced in attendant worker bees. Maintenance of HSR function with advent of reproductive potential is unique among invertebrates studied to date and provides a potential model for examining the molecular mechanisms regulating the uncoupling of the reproduction-maintenance trade-off in queen bees, with important consequences for understanding how stresses impact different types of individuals in honey bee colonies.
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Affiliation(s)
- S R Shih
- Biology Department, Barnard College, New York, NY, 10027, USA
| | - E M Huntsman
- Biology Department, Barnard College, New York, NY, 10027, USA
| | - M E Flores
- Biology Department, Barnard College, New York, NY, 10027, USA
| | - J W Snow
- Biology Department, Barnard College, New York, NY, 10027, USA.
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15
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Wang Y, Amdam GV, Daniels BC, Page RE. Tyramine and its receptor TYR1 linked behavior QTL to reproductive physiology in honey bee workers (Apis mellifera). JOURNAL OF INSECT PHYSIOLOGY 2020; 126:104093. [PMID: 32763247 DOI: 10.1016/j.jinsphys.2020.104093] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2020] [Revised: 06/23/2020] [Accepted: 08/02/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Honey bees (Apis mellifera) provide an excellent model for studying how complex social behavior evolves and is regulated. Social behavioral traits such as the division of labor have been mapped to specific genomic regions in quantitative trait locus (QTL) studies. However, relating genomic mapping to gene function and regulatory mechanism remains a big challenge for geneticists. In honey bee workers, division of labor is known to be regulated by reproductive physiology, but the genetic basis of this regulation remains unknown. In this case, QTL studies have identified tyramine receptor 1 (TYR1) as a candidate gene in region pln2, which is associated with multiple worker social traits and reproductive anatomy. Tyramine (TA), a neurotransmitter, regulates physiology and behavior in diverse insect species including honey bees. Here, we examine directly the effects of TYR1 and TA on worker reproductive physiology, including ovariole number, ovary function and the production of vitellogenin (VG, an egg yolk precursor). First, we used a pharmacology approach to demonstrate that TA affects ovariole number during worker larval development and increases ovary maturation during the adult stage. Second, we used a gene knockdown approach to show that TYR1 regulates vg transcription in adult workers. Finally, we estimated correlations in gene expression and propose that TYR1 may regulate vg transcription by coordinating hormonal and nutritional signals. Taken together, our results suggest TYR1 and TA play important roles in regulating worker reproductive physiology, which in turn regulates social behavior. Our study exemplifies a successful forward-genetic strategy going from QTL mapping to gene function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ying Wang
- Banner Health Corporation, PO Box 16423, Phoenix, AZ 85012, USA
| | - Gro V Amdam
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, PO Box 874501, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA; Department of Ecology and Natural Resource Management, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, 1430 Aas, Norway
| | - Bryan C Daniels
- ASU-SFI Center for Biosocial Complex Systems, Arizona State University, PO Box 872701, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA
| | - Robert E Page
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, PO Box 874501, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA; Department of Entomology and Nematology, University of California Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, USA
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16
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Ge L, Zhou Z, Sun K, Huang B, Stanley D, Song QS. The antibiotic jinggangmycin increases brown planthopper (BPH) fecundity by enhancing rice plant sugar concentrations and BPH insulin-like signaling. CHEMOSPHERE 2020; 249:126463. [PMID: 32213388 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2020.126463] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2019] [Revised: 03/07/2020] [Accepted: 03/09/2020] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
The brown planthopper (BPH), Nilaparvata lugens, is a resurgent pest with an unexpected response to jinggangmycin (JGM), a broadly applied antibiotic used to control rice sheath blight disease. JGM stimulates BPH fecundity, but the underlining molecular mechanisms remain unclear. Here we report that JGM sprays led to increased glucose concentrations, photosynthesis and gene expression, specifically Rubsico, sucrose phosphate synthase, invertase 2 (INV2) and INV3 in rice plants. JGM sprays led to high-glucose rice plants. Feeding BPH on these plants led to increased insulin-like signaling and vitellogenin synthesis. Treating BPH with metformin, a gluconeogenesis inhibitor, reversed the influence of feeding on high-glucose rice, which was rescued by glucose injections. Silencing insulin-like peptide 2 using per os dsRNA led to reduction in juvenile hormone (JH) III titers and other fecundity parameters, which were reversed by topical applications of the JH analog, methoprene. We infer that JGM acts via two broad mechanisms, one through increasing rice plant sugar concentrations and a second by upregulating BPH insulin-like signaling.
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Affiliation(s)
- LinQuan Ge
- School of Horticulture and Plant Protection, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province, China.
| | - Ze Zhou
- School of Horticulture and Plant Protection, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province, China
| | - KaiDi Sun
- School of Horticulture and Plant Protection, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province, China
| | - Bo Huang
- School of Horticulture and Plant Protection, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province, China
| | - David Stanley
- USDA/Agricultural Research Service, Biological Control of Insects Research Laboratory, Columbia, MO, USA
| | - Qi Sheng Song
- Division of Plant Sciences, University of Missouri, 1-31 Agriculture Building, Columbia, MO, 65211, USA.
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17
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Slater GP, Yocum GD, Bowsher JH. Diet quantity influences caste determination in honeybees ( Apis mellifera). Proc Biol Sci 2020; 287:20200614. [PMID: 32453984 PMCID: PMC7287363 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2020.0614] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2020] [Accepted: 04/27/2020] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
In species that care for their young, provisioning has profound effects on offspring fitness. Provisioning is important in honeybees because nutritional cues determine whether a female becomes a reproductive queen or sterile worker. A qualitative difference between the larval diets of queens and workers is thought to drive this divergence; however, no single compound seems to be responsible. Diet quantity may have a role during honeybee caste determination yet has never been formally studied. Our goal was to determine the relative contributions of diet quantity and quality to queen development. Larvae were reared in vitro on nine diets varying in the amount of royal jelly and sugars, which were fed to larvae in eight different quantities. For the middle diet, an ad libitum quantity treatment was included. Once adults eclosed, the queenliness was determined using principal component analysis on seven morphological measurements. We found that larvae fed an ad libitum quantity of diet were indistinguishable from commercially reared queens, and that queenliness was independent of the proportion of protein and carbohydrate in the diet. Neither protein nor carbohydrate content had a significant influence on the first principle component 1 (PC1), which explained 64.4% of the difference between queens and workers. Instead, the total quantity of diet explained a significant amount of the variation in PC1. Large amounts of diet in the final instar were capable of inducing queen traits, contrary to the received wisdom that queen determination can only occur in the third instar. These results indicate that total diet quantity fed to larvae may regulate the difference between queen and worker castes in honeybees.
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Affiliation(s)
- Garett P. Slater
- Department of Biological Sciences, North Dakota State University, PO Box 6050, Fargo, ND 58108, USA
| | - George D. Yocum
- Biosciences Research Laboratory, USDA-ARS Edward T. Schafer Agricultural Research Center, 1605 Albrecht Boulevard, Fargo, ND 58102-2765, USA
| | - Julia H. Bowsher
- Department of Biological Sciences, North Dakota State University, PO Box 6050, Fargo, ND 58108, USA
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18
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De Souza DA, Hartfelder KH, Tarpy DR. Effects of larval Age at Grafting and Juvenile Hormone on Morphometry and Reproductive Quality Parameters of in Vitro Reared Honey Bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae). JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY 2019; 112:2030-2039. [PMID: 31145456 DOI: 10.1093/jee/toz148] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
The honey bee queen plays a central role in the Apis mellifera L. (Hymenoptera: Apidae) colony, and her high reproductive capacity is fundamental for building up the workforce of a colony. Caste development in honey bee females involves elaborate physiological pathways unleashed at the beginning of the first larval instars, with juvenile hormone (JH) playing a crucial role. Here we took advantage of established in vitro rearing techniques to conduct a 2 × 2 experimental design and test initial rearing age (young vs old) and JH treatment (JH III vs solvent control) to enlighten the role of nutrient quality and JH in shaping honey bee female fertility, morphological features related to queenliness, and key physiological parameters (hemolymph vitellogenin/Vg, sugar levels, and Vg transcript levels). Our results show that while the age at initial larval rearing had major impacts on external morphology development, where younger larvae exhibited a higher probability to develop into queen-like adults morphotypes, the JH application during the larval stage improved physiological pathways related to ovary development and metabolism during the ontogenic development. We detected that the supplementation of queen larvae with JH promoted important benefits regarding queen fertility as the increase of ovariole number and vg levels at hemolymph, both crucial factors at eggs production. The data presented here provide guidance in efforts to improve honey bee queen quality, especially in light of frequent episodes of queen failures in the beekeeping industry.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daiana A De Souza
- Departamento de Biologia Celular e Molecular e Bioagentes Patogênicos, Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, SP
- Department of Entomology & Plant Pathology, North Carolina State University, Campus, Raleigh, NC
| | - Klaus H Hartfelder
- Departamento de Biologia Celular e Molecular e Bioagentes Patogênicos, Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, SP
| | - David R Tarpy
- Department of Entomology & Plant Pathology, North Carolina State University, Campus, Raleigh, NC
- W. M. Keck Center for Behavioral Biology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC
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19
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George EA, Bröger A, Thamm M, Brockmann A, Scheiner R. Inter‐individual variation in honey bee dance intensity correlates with expression of the
foraging
gene. GENES BRAIN AND BEHAVIOR 2019; 19:e12592. [DOI: 10.1111/gbb.12592] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2018] [Revised: 05/14/2019] [Accepted: 05/28/2019] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Ebi A. George
- National Centre for Biological Sciences Tata Institute of Fundamental Research Bangalore India
| | - Ann‐Kathrin Bröger
- Behavioral Physiology & Sociobiology, Biocenter University of Würzburg Würzburg Germany
| | - Markus Thamm
- Behavioral Physiology & Sociobiology, Biocenter University of Würzburg Würzburg Germany
| | - Axel Brockmann
- National Centre for Biological Sciences Tata Institute of Fundamental Research Bangalore India
| | - Ricarda Scheiner
- Behavioral Physiology & Sociobiology, Biocenter University of Würzburg Würzburg Germany
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20
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Roth A, Vleurinck C, Netschitailo O, Bauer V, Otte M, Kaftanoglu O, Page RE, Beye M. A genetic switch for worker nutrition-mediated traits in honeybees. PLoS Biol 2019; 17:e3000171. [PMID: 30897091 PMCID: PMC6428258 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3000171] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2018] [Accepted: 02/13/2019] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Highly social insects are characterized by caste dimorphism, with distinct size differences of reproductive organs between fertile queens and the more or less sterile workers. An abundance of nutrition or instruction via diet-specific compounds has been proposed as explanations for the nutrition-driven queen and worker polyphenism. Here, we further explored these models in the honeybee (Apis mellifera) using worker nutrition rearing and a novel mutational screening approach using the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/CRISPR-associated protein 9 (CRISPR/Cas9) method. The worker nutrition-driven size reduction of reproductive organs was restricted to the female sex, suggesting input from the sex determination pathway. Genetic screens on the sex determination genes in genetic females for size polyphenism revealed that doublesex (dsx) mutants display size-reduced reproductive organs irrespective of the sexual morphology of the organ tissue. In contrast, feminizer (fem) mutants lost the response to worker nutrition-driven size control. The first morphological worker mutants in honeybees demonstrate that the response to nutrition relies on a genetic program that is switched “ON” by the fem gene. Thus, the genetic instruction provided by the fem gene provides an entry point to genetically dissect the underlying processes that implement the size polyphenism. In honeybees, nutrition drives dimorphic size development of reproductive organs in fertile queens and sterile workers. A study using the first induced morphological mutants in honeybees demonstrates that this developmental plasticity requires a genetic program that is switched on by the “feminizer” gene. In honeybees, nutrition drives dimorphic size development of reproductive organs in fertile queens and sterile workers. The first induced morphological mutants in honeybees demonstrate that this developmental plasticity requires a genetic program that is switched “ON” by the feminizer (fem) gene.
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Affiliation(s)
- Annika Roth
- Institute of Evolutionary Genetics, Heinrich-Heine University Dusseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Christina Vleurinck
- Institute of Evolutionary Genetics, Heinrich-Heine University Dusseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Oksana Netschitailo
- Institute of Evolutionary Genetics, Heinrich-Heine University Dusseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Vivien Bauer
- Institute of Evolutionary Genetics, Heinrich-Heine University Dusseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Marianne Otte
- Institute of Evolutionary Genetics, Heinrich-Heine University Dusseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Osman Kaftanoglu
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Phoenix, Arizona, United States of America
| | - Robert E. Page
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Phoenix, Arizona, United States of America
- Department of Entomology and Nematology, University of California Davis, Davis, California, United States of America
| | - Martin Beye
- Institute of Evolutionary Genetics, Heinrich-Heine University Dusseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany
- * E-mail:
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21
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Li J, Heerman MC, Evans JD, Rose R, Li W, Rodríguez-García C, DeGrandi-Hoffman G, Zhao Y, Huang S, Li Z, Hamilton M, Chen Y. Pollen reverses decreased lifespan, altered nutritional metabolism, and suppressed immunity in honey bees (Apis mellifera) treated with antibiotics. J Exp Biol 2019; 222:jeb.202077. [DOI: 10.1242/jeb.202077] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2018] [Accepted: 02/25/2019] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Nutrition is involved in regulating multiple aspects of honeybee biology such as caste, immunity, lifespan, growth and behavioral development. Deformed wing virus (DWV) is a major pathogenic factor which threatens honeybee populations, and its replication is regulated by nutrition status and immune responses of honeybees. The alimentary canal of the honeybee is home to a diverse microbial community that provides essential nutrients and serves to bolster immune responses. However, to what extent gut bacteria affect honeybee nutrition metabolism and immunity with respect to DWV has not been investigated fully. In this study, newly emerged worker bees were subjected to four diets that contained 1) pollen, 2) pollen and antibiotics, 3) neither pollen nor antibiotics, 4) antibiotics alone. The expression level of two nutrition genes target of rapamycin (tor) and insulin like peptide (ilp1), one nutritional marker gene vitellogenin (vg), five major royal jelly proteins genes (mrjp1-5), one antimicrobial peptide regulating gene relish (rel), and DWV virus titer and its replication intermediate, negative RNA strand, were determined by qRT-PCR from the honeybees after 7 days post antibiotic treatment. Additionally, honeybee head weight and survival rate were measured. We observed that antibiotics decreased the expression of tor and rel, increased DWV titer and its replication activity. Expression of ilp1, five mrjps, vg, and honeybee head weight were also reduced compared to bees on a pollen diet. Antibiotics also caused a significant drop in survivorship, which could be rescued by addition of pollen to diets. Of importance, pollen could partially rescue the loss of vg and mrjp2 while also increasing head weight of antibiotic-treated bees. Our results illuminate the roles of bacteria in honeybee nutrition, metabolism, and immunity; which confer the capability of inhibiting virus replication, extending honeybee lifespan, and improving overall health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jianghong Li
- USDA-ARS Bee Research Laboratory, Bldg. 306, BARC-East, Beltsville, MD 20705, USA
- College of Bee Science, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, 350002, China
| | - Matthew C. Heerman
- USDA-ARS Bee Research Laboratory, Bldg. 306, BARC-East, Beltsville, MD 20705, USA
| | - Jay D. Evans
- USDA-ARS Bee Research Laboratory, Bldg. 306, BARC-East, Beltsville, MD 20705, USA
| | - Robyn Rose
- USDA APHIS, Plant Protection and Quarantine, 4700 River Rd, Riverdale, MD 20737, USA
| | - Wenfeng Li
- USDA-ARS Bee Research Laboratory, Bldg. 306, BARC-East, Beltsville, MD 20705, USA
| | | | | | - Yazhou Zhao
- USDA-ARS Bee Research Laboratory, Bldg. 306, BARC-East, Beltsville, MD 20705, USA
- Institute of Apicultural Research, Chinese Academy of Agriculture Sciences, Beijing, 100081, China
| | - Shaokang Huang
- College of Bee Science, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, 350002, China
| | - Zhiguo Li
- College of Bee Science, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, 350002, China
| | - Michele Hamilton
- USDA-ARS Bee Research Laboratory, Bldg. 306, BARC-East, Beltsville, MD 20705, USA
| | - Yanping Chen
- USDA-ARS Bee Research Laboratory, Bldg. 306, BARC-East, Beltsville, MD 20705, USA
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De Souza DA, Kaftanoglu O, De Jong D, Page RE, Amdam GV, Wang Y. Differences in the morphology, physiology and gene expression of honey bee queens and workers reared in vitro versus in situ. Biol Open 2018; 7:bio036616. [PMID: 30341101 PMCID: PMC6262861 DOI: 10.1242/bio.036616] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2018] [Accepted: 09/26/2018] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
The effect of larval nutrition on female fertility in honey bees is a focus for both scientific studies and for practical applications in beekeeping. In general, morphological traits are standards for classifying queens and workers and for evaluating their quality. In recent years, in vitro rearing techniques have been improved and used in many studies; they can produce queen-like and worker-like bees. Here, we questioned whether queens and workers reared in vitro are the same as queens and workers reared in a natural hive environment. We reared workers and queens both in vitro and naturally in beehives to test how these different environments affect metabolic physiology and candidate genes in newly emerged queens and workers. We found that sugar (glucose and trehalose) levels differed between queens and workers in both in vitro and in-hive-reared bees. The in vitro-reared bees had significantly higher levels of lipids in the abdomen. Moreover, hive reared queens had almost 20 times higher levels of vitellogenin than in vitro-reared queens, despite similar morphologies. In addition, hive-reared bees had significantly higher levels of expression of mrjp1 In conclusion, in vitro rearing produces queens and workers that differ from those reared in the hive environment at physiological and gene expression levels.This article has an associated First Person interview with the first author of the paper.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daiana A De Souza
- Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo 14049-900, Brazil
- Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695-7613, USA
| | - Osman Kaftanoglu
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-4501, USA
| | - David De Jong
- Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo 14049-900, Brazil
| | - Robert E Page
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-4501, USA
- Department of Entomology and Nematology, University of California Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA
| | - Gro V Amdam
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-4501, USA
- Faculty of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resource Management, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Aas 1432 Ås, Norway
| | - Ying Wang
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-4501, USA
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Guo X, Wang Y, Sinakevitch I, Lei H, Smith BH. Comparison of RNAi knockdown effect of tyramine receptor 1 induced by dsRNA and siRNA in brains of the honey bee, Apis mellifera. JOURNAL OF INSECT PHYSIOLOGY 2018; 111:47-52. [PMID: 30393170 DOI: 10.1016/j.jinsphys.2018.10.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2018] [Revised: 10/05/2018] [Accepted: 10/24/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
RNA interference (RNAi) is a powerful tool for artificially manipulating gene expression in diverse organisms. In the honey bee, Apis mellifera, both long double stranded RNA (dsRNA) and small interference RNA (siRNA) have been successfully used to reduce targeted gene expression and induce specific phenotypes. However, whether dsRNA and siRNA have different effects and efficiencies in gene silencing has never been investigated in honey bees. Thus, we tested the effect of dsRNA and siRNA on the tyramine receptor 1 (tyr1), which encodes a receptor of neurotransmitter tyramine, in honey bee brains at mRNA and protein levels over time. We found that both dsRNA and siRNA achieved successful gene knockdown. The siRNA mixes affected tyr1 gene expression faster than dsRNA, and the duration of the knockdown between dsRNA and siRNA varied. We also found that the turnover rate of TYR1 protein was relatively fast, which is consistent with its role as a neurotransmitter receptor. Our study reveals the different efficiencies of dsRNA and siRNA in honey bee brains. We show that consideration of the gene regions targeted by RNAi, prior screening for RNAi molecules and combing siRNAs are important strategies to enhance RNAi efficiency.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaojiao Guo
- State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, United States
| | - Ying Wang
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, United States
| | - Irina Sinakevitch
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, United States
| | - Hong Lei
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, United States
| | - Brian H Smith
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, United States.
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Abstract
Between the 1930s and 50s, evolutionary biologists developed a successful theory of why organisms age, firmly rooted in population genetic principles. By the 1980s the evolution of aging had a secure experimental basis. Since the force of selection declines with age, aging evolves due to mutation accumulation or a benefit to fitness early in life. Here we review major insights and challenges that have emerged over the last 35 years: selection does not always necessarily decline with age; higher extrinsic (i.e., environmentally caused) mortality does not always accelerate aging; conserved pathways control aging rate; senescence patterns are more diverse than previously thought; aging is not universal; trade-offs involving lifespan can be 'broken'; aging might be 'druggable'; and human life expectancy continues to rise but compressing late-life morbidity remains a pressing challenge.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas Flatt
- Department of Biology, University of Fribourg, Chemin du Musée 10, CH-1700, Fribourg, Switzerland
| | - Linda Partridge
- Max Planck Institute for Biology of Aging, Joseph-Stelzmann-Strasse 9b, D-50931, Cologne, Germany.
- Institute for Healthy Aging and GEE, University College London, Darwin Building, Gower Street, London, WC1E6BT, UK.
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Chandra V, Fetter-Pruneda I, Oxley PR, Ritger AL, McKenzie SK, Libbrecht R, Kronauer DJC. Social regulation of insulin signaling and the evolution of eusociality in ants. Science 2018; 361:398-402. [PMID: 30049879 PMCID: PMC6178808 DOI: 10.1126/science.aar5723] [Citation(s) in RCA: 90] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2017] [Revised: 04/01/2018] [Accepted: 05/30/2018] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Queens and workers of eusocial Hymenoptera are considered homologous to the reproductive and brood care phases of an ancestral subsocial life cycle. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying the evolution of reproductive division of labor remain obscure. Using a brain transcriptomics screen, we identified a single gene, insulin-like peptide 2 (ilp2), which is always up-regulated in ant reproductives, likely because they are better nourished than their nonreproductive nestmates. In clonal raider ants (Ooceraea biroi), larval signals inhibit adult reproduction by suppressing ilp2, thus producing a colony reproductive cycle reminiscent of ancestral subsociality. However, increasing ILP2 peptide levels overrides larval suppression, thereby breaking the colony cycle and inducing a stable division of labor. These findings suggest a simple model for the origin of ant eusociality via nutritionally determined reproductive asymmetries potentially amplified by larval signals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vikram Chandra
- Laboratory of Social Evolution and Behavior, The Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, New York, NY 10065, USA.
| | - Ingrid Fetter-Pruneda
- Laboratory of Social Evolution and Behavior, The Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, New York, NY 10065, USA.
| | - Peter R Oxley
- Laboratory of Social Evolution and Behavior, The Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, New York, NY 10065, USA
- Samuel J. Wood Library, Weill Cornell Medicine, 1300 York Avenue, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | - Amelia L Ritger
- Laboratory of Social Evolution and Behavior, The Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | - Sean K McKenzie
- Laboratory of Social Evolution and Behavior, The Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, New York, NY 10065, USA
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, Biophore Building, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Romain Libbrecht
- Laboratory of Social Evolution and Behavior, The Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, New York, NY 10065, USA
- Institute of Organismic and Molecular Evolution, Johannes Gutenberg University, Johannes-von-Müller-Weg 6, 55128 Mainz, Germany
| | - Daniel J C Kronauer
- Laboratory of Social Evolution and Behavior, The Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, New York, NY 10065, USA.
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The Neuropeptide Corazonin Controls Social Behavior and Caste Identity in Ants. Cell 2017; 170:748-759.e12. [PMID: 28802044 DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2017.07.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 103] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/04/2016] [Revised: 05/23/2017] [Accepted: 07/13/2017] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Social insects are emerging models to study how gene regulation affects behavior because their colonies comprise individuals with the same genomes but greatly different behavioral repertoires. To investigate the molecular mechanisms that activate distinct behaviors in different castes, we exploit a natural behavioral plasticity in Harpegnathos saltator, where adult workers can transition to a reproductive, queen-like state called gamergate. Analysis of brain transcriptomes during the transition reveals that corazonin, a neuropeptide homologous to the vertebrate gonadotropin-releasing hormone, is downregulated as workers become gamergates. Corazonin is also preferentially expressed in workers and/or foragers from other social insect species. Injection of corazonin in transitioning Harpegnathos individuals suppresses expression of vitellogenin in the brain and stimulates worker-like hunting behaviors, while inhibiting gamergate behaviors, such as dueling and egg deposition. We propose that corazonin is a central regulator of caste identity and behavior in social insects.
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Cridge AG, Lovegrove MR, Skelly JG, Taylor SE, Petersen GEL, Cameron RC, Dearden PK. The honeybee as a model insect for developmental genetics. Genesis 2017; 55. [PMID: 28432809 DOI: 10.1002/dvg.23019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2016] [Revised: 01/08/2017] [Accepted: 01/15/2017] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
Honeybees are an important component of modern agricultural systems, and a fascinating and scientifically engrossing insect. Honeybees are not commonly used as model systems for understanding development in insects despite their importance in agriculture. Honeybee embryogenesis, while being superficially similar to Drosophila, is molecularly very different, especially in axis formation and sex determination. In later development, much of honeybee biology is modified by caste development, an as yet poorly understood, but excellent, system to study developmental plasticity. In adult stages, developmental plasticity of the ovaries, related to reproductive constraint exhibits another aspect of plasticity. Here they review the tools, current knowledge and opportunities in honeybee developmental biology, and provide an updated embryonic staging scheme to support future studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- A G Cridge
- Laboratory for Evolution and Development, Genetics Otago, Biochemistry Department, University of Otago, Dunedin, 9054, P.O. Box 56, Aotearoa-New Zealand
| | - M R Lovegrove
- Laboratory for Evolution and Development, Genetics Otago, Biochemistry Department, University of Otago, Dunedin, 9054, P.O. Box 56, Aotearoa-New Zealand
| | - J G Skelly
- Laboratory for Evolution and Development, Genetics Otago, Biochemistry Department, University of Otago, Dunedin, 9054, P.O. Box 56, Aotearoa-New Zealand
| | - S E Taylor
- Laboratory for Evolution and Development, Genetics Otago, Biochemistry Department, University of Otago, Dunedin, 9054, P.O. Box 56, Aotearoa-New Zealand
| | - G E L Petersen
- Laboratory for Evolution and Development, Genetics Otago, Biochemistry Department, University of Otago, Dunedin, 9054, P.O. Box 56, Aotearoa-New Zealand.,AbacusBio Ltd, Public Trust Building, 442 Moray Place, Dunedin 9016, Aotearoa-New Zealand
| | - R C Cameron
- Department of Developmental and Molecular Biology and Gottesman Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York
| | - P K Dearden
- Laboratory for Evolution and Development, Genetics Otago, Biochemistry Department, University of Otago, Dunedin, 9054, P.O. Box 56, Aotearoa-New Zealand
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Knockdown of a putative insulin-like peptide gene LdILP2 in Leptinotarsa decemlineata by RNA interference impairs pupation and adult emergence. Gene 2016; 581:170-7. [DOI: 10.1016/j.gene.2016.01.037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2015] [Revised: 12/02/2015] [Accepted: 01/22/2016] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
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Wang Y, Kaftanoglu O, Brent CS, Page RE, Amdam GV. Starvation stress during larval development facilitates an adaptive response in adult worker honey bees (Apis mellifera L.). J Exp Biol 2016; 219:949-59. [DOI: 10.1242/jeb.130435] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2015] [Accepted: 12/22/2015] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
Abstract
ABSTRACT
Most organisms are constantly faced with environmental changes and stressors. In diverse organisms, there is an anticipatory mechanism during development that can program adult phenotypes. The adult phenotype would be adapted to the predicted environment that occurred during organism maturation. However, whether this anticipatory mechanism is present in eusocial species is questionable because eusocial organisms are largely shielded from exogenous conditions by their stable nest environment. In this study, we tested whether food deprivation during development of the honey bee (Apis mellifera), a eusocial insect model, can shift adult phenotypes to better cope with nutritional stress. After subjecting fifth instar worker larvae to short-term starvation, we measured nutrition-related morphology, starvation resistance, physiology, endocrinology and behavior in the adults. We found that the larval starvation caused adult honey bees to become more resilient toward starvation. Moreover, the adult bees were characterized by reduced ovary size, elevated glycogen stores and juvenile hormone (JH) titers, and decreased sugar sensitivity. These changes, in general, can help adult insects survive and reproduce in food-poor environments. Overall, we found for the first time support for an anticipatory mechanism in a eusocial species, the honey bee. Our results suggest that this mechanism may play a role in honey bee queen–worker differentiation and worker division of labor, both of which are related to the responses to nutritional stress.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ying Wang
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA
| | - Osman Kaftanoglu
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA
| | - Colin S. Brent
- US Department of Agriculture, Arid-Land Agricultural Research Center, Maricopa, AZ 85138, USA
| | - Robert E. Page
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA
- Department of Entomology and Nematology, University of California Davis, Davis, CA 96616, USA
- Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM 87501, USA
| | - Gro V. Amdam
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA
- Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Department of Ecology and Natural Resource Management, Aas, N-1432, Norway
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31
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Guo SS, Zhang M, Liu TX. Insulin-Related Peptide 5 is Involved in Regulating Embryo Development and Biochemical Composition in Pea Aphid with Wing Polyphenism. Front Physiol 2016; 7:31. [PMID: 26903881 PMCID: PMC4746287 DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2016.00031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2015] [Accepted: 01/22/2016] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
In aphids there is a fecundity-dispersal trade-off between wingless and winged morphs. Recent research on the molecular mechanism of wing morphs associated with dispersal reveals that insulin receptors in the insulin signaling (IS) pathway regulate alternation of wing morphs in planthoppers. However, little is known about whether genes in the IS pathway are involved in developmental regulation in aphid nymphs with different wing morphs. In this study, we show that expression of the insulin-related peptide 5 gene (Apirp5) affects biochemical composition and embryo development of wingless pea aphids, Acyrthosiphon pisum. After comparing expression levels of major genes in the IS pathway between third instar winged and wingless nymphs, we found that Apirp5 showed higher expression in head and thorax in the wingless nymphs than in the winged nymphs. Although microinjection treatment affects physical performance in aphids, nymphs with RNA interference of Apirp5 had less weight, smaller embryos, and higher carbohydrate and protein contents compared to the control group. Comparison between winged and wingless nymphs showed a similar trend. These results indicate that Apirp5 is involved in embryo development and metabolic regulation in wing dimorphic pea aphid.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shan-Shan Guo
- State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology for Arid Areas, Northwest A&F University Yangling, China
| | - Meng Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology for Arid Areas, Northwest A&F University Yangling, China
| | - Tong-Xian Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology for Arid Areas, Northwest A&F University Yangling, China
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Corona M, Libbrecht R, Wheeler DE. Molecular mechanisms of phenotypic plasticity in social insects. CURRENT OPINION IN INSECT SCIENCE 2016; 13:55-60. [PMID: 27436553 DOI: 10.1016/j.cois.2015.12.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 96] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/28/2015] [Revised: 11/23/2015] [Accepted: 12/11/2015] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
Polyphenism in insects, whereby a single genome expresses different phenotypes in response to environmental cues, is a fascinating biological phenomenon. Social insects are especially intriguing examples of phenotypic plasticity because division of labor results in the development of extreme morphological phenotypes, such as the queen and worker castes. Although sociality evolved independently in ants, bees, wasps and termites, similar genetic pathways regulate phenotypic plasticity in these different groups of social insects. The insulin/insulin-like growth signaling (IIS) plays a key role in this process. Recent research reveals that IIS interacts with other pathways including target of rapamycin (TOR), epidermal growth factor receptor (Egfr), juvenile hormone (JH) and vitellogenin (Vg) to regulate caste differentiation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miguel Corona
- USDA Bee Research, 10300 Baltimore Avenue, Building 306, Beltsville, MD 20705, USA
| | - Romain Libbrecht
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, CH-1015, Switzerland
| | - Diana E Wheeler
- Department of Entomology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA.
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Ronai I, Vergoz V, Oldroyd B. The Mechanistic, Genetic, and Evolutionary Basis of Worker Sterility in the Social Hymenoptera. ADVANCES IN THE STUDY OF BEHAVIOR 2016. [DOI: 10.1016/bs.asb.2016.03.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
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Mao W, Schuler MA, Berenbaum MR. A dietary phytochemical alters caste-associated gene expression in honey bees. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2015; 1:e1500795. [PMID: 26601244 PMCID: PMC4643792 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1500795] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2015] [Accepted: 07/13/2015] [Indexed: 05/08/2023]
Abstract
In the eusocial honey bee Apis mellifera, with reproductive queens and sterile workers, a female larva's developmental fate depends on its diet; nurse bees feed queen-destined larvae exclusively royal jelly, a glandular secretion, but worker-destined larvae receive royal jelly for 3 days and subsequently jelly to which honey and beebread are added. RNA-Seq analysis demonstrated that p-coumaric acid, which is ubiquitous in honey and beebread, differentially regulates genes involved in caste determination. Rearing larvae in vitro on a royal jelly diet to which p-coumaric acid has been added produces adults with reduced ovary development. Thus, consuming royal jelly exclusively not only enriches the diet of queen-destined larvae but also may protect them from inhibitory effects of phytochemicals present in the honey and beebread fed to worker-destined larvae.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wenfu Mao
- Department of Entomology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801–3795, USA
| | - Mary A. Schuler
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
| | - May R. Berenbaum
- Department of Entomology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801–3795, USA
- Corresponding author. E-mail:
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35
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Kim Y, Hong Y. Regulation of hemolymph trehalose level by an insulin-like peptide through diel feeding rhythm of the beet armyworm, Spodoptera exigua. Peptides 2015; 68:91-8. [PMID: 25703302 DOI: 10.1016/j.peptides.2015.02.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2014] [Revised: 02/02/2015] [Accepted: 02/11/2015] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
Like vertebrate insulins, some insect insulin-like peptides (ILPs) play crucial roles in controlling immature growth, adult lifespan, and hemolymph sugar level. An ILP gene (SeILP1) was predicted from a transcriptome database of Spodoptera exigua. SeILP1 encodes 95 amino acid sequence and shares sequence homologies (33-83%) with other insect ILPs, in which six conserved cysteine residues are found in the predicted B-A chains. SeILP1 was expressed in all developmental stages of S. exigua. However, SeILP1 expression was tissue-specific because the transcript was detected in fat body and epidermis, but not in hemocytes and gut. Its expression increased with feeding activity. Hemolymph trehalose levels of the fifth instar larvae maintained a relatively constant level at 2.31±0.62mM. However, starvation induced a significant increase of the hemolymph trehalose level by more than twofold in 48h, at which few SeILP1 was transcribed. RNA interference of SeILP1 using its specific double-stranded RNA induced a significant increase of hemolymph trehalose level. Interestingly, a bovine insulin decreased hemolymph trehalose level in a dose-dependent manner. These results indicate that SeILP1 plays a role in suppressing hemolymph trehalose level in S. exigua.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yonggyun Kim
- Department of Bioresource Sciences, Andong National University, Andong 760-749, Republic of Korea.
| | - Youkyeong Hong
- Department of Bioresource Sciences, Andong National University, Andong 760-749, Republic of Korea
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