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Hagan T, Ding G, Buchmann G, Oldroyd BP, Gloag R. Serial founder effects slow range expansion in an invasive social insect. Nat Commun 2024; 15:3608. [PMID: 38684711 PMCID: PMC11058855 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-47894-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2023] [Accepted: 04/10/2024] [Indexed: 05/02/2024] Open
Abstract
Invasive populations often experience founder effects: a loss of genetic diversity relative to the source population, due to a small number of founders. Even where these founder effects do not impact colonization success, theory predicts they might affect the rate at which invasive populations expand. This is because secondary founder effects are generated at advancing population edges, further reducing local genetic diversity and elevating genetic load. We show that in an expanding invasive population of the Asian honey bee (Apis cerana), genetic diversity is indeed lowest at range edges, including at the complementary sex determiner, csd, a locus that is homozygous-lethal. Consistent with lower local csd diversity, range edge colonies had lower brood viability than colonies in the range centre. Further, simulations of a newly-founded and expanding honey bee population corroborate the spatial patterns in mean colony fitness observed in our empirical data and show that such genetic load at range edges will slow the rate of population expansion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas Hagan
- Behaviour, Ecology and Evolution Lab, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia.
| | - Guiling Ding
- Behaviour, Ecology and Evolution Lab, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia
- Key Laboratory of Pollinating Insect Biology of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Institute of Apicultural Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100093, China
| | - Gabriele Buchmann
- Behaviour, Ecology and Evolution Lab, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia
| | - Benjamin P Oldroyd
- Behaviour, Ecology and Evolution Lab, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia
| | - Rosalyn Gloag
- Behaviour, Ecology and Evolution Lab, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia.
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2
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Dogantzis KA, Raffiudin R, Putra RE, Shaleh I, Conflitti IM, Pepinelli M, Roberts J, Holmes M, Oldroyd BP, Zayed A, Gloag R. Post-invasion selection acts on standing genetic variation despite a severe founding bottleneck. Curr Biol 2024; 34:1349-1356.e4. [PMID: 38428415 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2024.02.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2023] [Revised: 12/12/2023] [Accepted: 02/06/2024] [Indexed: 03/03/2024]
Abstract
Invasive populations often have lower genetic diversity relative to the native-range populations from which they derive.1,2 Despite this, many biological invaders succeed in their new environments, in part due to rapid adaptation.3,4,5,6 Therefore, the role of genetic bottlenecks in constraining the adaptation of invaders is debated.7,8,9,10 Here, we use whole-genome resequencing of samples from a 10-year time-series dataset, representing the natural invasion of the Asian honey bee (Apis cerana) in Australia, to investigate natural selection occurring in the aftermath of a founding event. We find that Australia's A. cerana population was founded by as few as one colony, whose arrival was followed by a period of rapid population expansion associated with an increase of rare variants.11 The bottleneck resulted in a steep loss of overall genetic diversity, yet we nevertheless detected loci with signatures of positive selection during the first years post-invasion. When we investigated the origin of alleles under selection, we found that selection acted primarily on the variation introduced by founders and not on the variants that arose post-invasion by mutation. In all, our data highlight that selection on standing genetic variation can occur in the early years post-invasion, even where founding bottlenecks are severe.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kathleen A Dogantzis
- York University, Department of Biology, 4700 Keele Street, Toronto, ON M3J 1P3, Canada
| | - Rika Raffiudin
- IPB University, Department of Biology, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Bogor 16680, Indonesia
| | - Ramadhani Eka Putra
- Bandung Institute of Technology, School of Life Sciences and Technology, Bandung 40132, West Java, Indonesia
| | - Ismail Shaleh
- IPB University, Department of Biology, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Bogor 16680, Indonesia
| | - Ida M Conflitti
- York University, Department of Biology, 4700 Keele Street, Toronto, ON M3J 1P3, Canada
| | - Mateus Pepinelli
- York University, Department of Biology, 4700 Keele Street, Toronto, ON M3J 1P3, Canada
| | - John Roberts
- Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
| | - Michael Holmes
- University of Sydney, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Benjamin P Oldroyd
- University of Sydney, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Amro Zayed
- York University, Department of Biology, 4700 Keele Street, Toronto, ON M3J 1P3, Canada.
| | - Rosalyn Gloag
- University of Sydney, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.
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3
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Françoso E, Zuntini AR, Ricardo PC, Santos PKF, de Souza Araujo N, Silva JPN, Gonçalves LT, Brito R, Gloag R, Taylor BA, Harpur B, Oldroyd BP, Brown MJF, Arias MC. Rapid evolution, rearrangements and whole mitogenome duplication in the Australian stingless bees Tetragonula (Hymenoptera: Apidae): A steppingstone towards understanding mitochondrial function and evolution. Int J Biol Macromol 2023; 242:124568. [PMID: 37100315 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2023.124568] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2022] [Revised: 03/16/2023] [Accepted: 04/10/2023] [Indexed: 04/28/2023]
Abstract
The extreme conservation of mitochondrial genomes in metazoans poses a significant challenge to understanding mitogenome evolution. However, the presence of variation in gene order or genome structure, found in a small number of taxa, can provide unique insights into this evolution. Previous work on two stingless bees in the genus Tetragonula (T. carbonaria and T. hockingsi) revealed highly divergent CO1 regions between them and when compared to the bees from the same tribe (Meliponini), indicating rapid evolution. Using mtDNA isolation and Illumina sequencing, we elucidated the mitogenomes of both species. In both species, there has been a duplication of the whole mitogenome to give a total genome size of 30,666 bp in T. carbonaria; and 30,662 bp in T. hockingsi. These duplicated genomes present a circular structure with two identical and mirrored copies of all 13 protein coding genes and 22 tRNAs, with the exception of a few tRNAs that are present as single copies. In addition, the mitogenomes are characterized by rearrangements of two block of genes. We believe that rapid evolution is present in the whole Indo-Malay/Australasian group of Meliponini but is extraordinarily elevated in T. carbonaria and T. hockingsi, probably due to founder effect, low effective population size and the mitogenome duplication. All these features - rapid evolution, rearrangements, and duplication - deviate significantly from the vast majority of the mitogenomes described so far, making the mitogenomes of Tetragonula unique opportunities to address fundamental questions of mitogenome function and evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elaine Françoso
- Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Behaviour, Department of Biological Sciences, School of Life Sciences and the Environment, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham TW20 0EX, UK; Departamento de Genética e Biologia Evolutiva, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP 05508-090, Brazil.
| | | | - Paulo Cseri Ricardo
- Departamento de Genética e Biologia Evolutiva, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP 05508-090, Brazil
| | | | - Natalia de Souza Araujo
- Unit of Evolutionary Biology & Ecology, Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels, Belgium
| | - João Paulo Naldi Silva
- Departamento de Genética e Biologia Evolutiva, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP 05508-090, Brazil
| | | | | | - Rosalyn Gloag
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia
| | - Benjamin A Taylor
- Department of Entomology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA
| | - Brock Harpur
- Department of Entomology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA
| | - Benjamin P Oldroyd
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia
| | - Mark J F Brown
- Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Behaviour, Department of Biological Sciences, School of Life Sciences and the Environment, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham TW20 0EX, UK
| | - Maria Cristina Arias
- Departamento de Genética e Biologia Evolutiva, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP 05508-090, Brazil
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Watson OT, Buchmann G, Young P, Lo K, Remnant EJ, Yagound B, Shambrook M, Hill AF, Oldroyd BP, Ashe A. Abundant small RNAs in the reproductive tissues and eggs of the honey bee, Apis mellifera. BMC Genomics 2022; 23:257. [PMID: 35379185 PMCID: PMC8978429 DOI: 10.1186/s12864-022-08478-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/09/2021] [Accepted: 03/17/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Polyandrous social insects such as the honey bee are prime candidates for parental manipulation of gene expression in offspring. Although there is good evidence for parent-of-origin effects in honey bees the epigenetic mechanisms that underlie these effects remain a mystery. Small RNA molecules such as miRNAs, piRNAs and siRNAs play important roles in transgenerational epigenetic inheritance and in the regulation of gene expression during development. Results Here we present the first characterisation of small RNAs present in honey bee reproductive tissues: ovaries, spermatheca, semen, fertilised and unfertilised eggs, and testes. We show that semen contains fewer piRNAs relative to eggs and ovaries, and that piRNAs and miRNAs which map antisense to genes involved in DNA regulation and developmental processes are differentially expressed between tissues. tRNA fragments are highly abundant in semen and have a similar profile to those seen in the semen of other animals. Intriguingly we also find abundant piRNAs that target the sex determination locus, suggesting that piRNAs may play a role in honey bee sex determination. Conclusions We conclude that small RNAs may play a fundamental role in honey bee gametogenesis and reproduction and provide a plausible mechanism for parent-of-origin effects on gene expression and reproductive physiology. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12864-022-08478-9.
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Affiliation(s)
- Owen T Watson
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia
| | - Gabriele Buchmann
- BEE Laboratory, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia
| | - Paul Young
- Molecular Cardiology and Biophysics Division, Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute NSW 2010, Darlinghurst, Australia
| | - Kitty Lo
- School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia
| | - Emily J Remnant
- BEE Laboratory, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia
| | - Boris Yagound
- BEE Laboratory, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia
| | - Mitch Shambrook
- Department of Biochemistry and Chemistry, School of Agriculture, Biomedicine and Environment, La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria, 3086, Australia
| | - Andrew F Hill
- Department of Biochemistry and Chemistry, School of Agriculture, Biomedicine and Environment, La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria, 3086, Australia.,Institute for Health and Sport, Victoria University, Footscray, VIC, Australia
| | - Benjamin P Oldroyd
- BEE Laboratory, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia. .,Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin, Wallotstrasse 19, 14193, Berlin, Germany.
| | - Alyson Ashe
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia.
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Garcia Bulle Bueno F, Garcia Bulle Bueno B, Buchmann G, Heard T, Latty T, Oldroyd BP, Hosoi AE, Gloag R. Males Are Capable of Long-Distance Dispersal in a Social Bee. Front Ecol Evol 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2022.843156] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Pollinator conservation is aided by knowledge of dispersal behavior, which shapes gene flow and population structure. In many bees, dispersal is thought to be male-biased, and males’ movements may be critical to maintaining gene flow in disturbed and fragmented habitats. Yet male bee movements are challenging to track directly and male dispersal ability remains poorly understood in most species. Here, we combine field manipulations and models to assess male dispersal ability in a stingless bee (Tetragonula carbonaria). We placed colonies with virgin queens at varying distances apart (1–48 km), genotyped the males that gathered at mating aggregations outside each colony, and used pairwise sibship assignment to determine the distribution of likely brothers across aggregations. We then compared simulations of male dispersal to our observed distributions and found best-fit models when males dispersed an average of 2–3 km (>2-fold female flight ranges), and maximum of 20 km (30-fold female flight ranges). Our data supports the view that male bee dispersal can facilitate gene flow over long-distances, and thus play a key role in bee populations’ resilience to habitat loss and fragmentation. In addition, we show that the number of families contributing to male aggregations can be used to estimate local stingless bee colony densities, allowing population monitoring of these important tropical pollinators.
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Meemongkolkiat T, Lim J, Chanchao C, P. Oldroyd B. Malate Dehydrogenase allele frequencies in the commercial honey bee (Apis mellifera) population in Thailand reflect those in source populations. ScienceAsia 2022. [DOI: 10.2306/scienceasia1513-1874.2022.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
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Aamidor SE, Cardoso-Júnior CAM, Harianto J, Nowell CJ, Cole L, Oldroyd BP, Ronai I. Reproductive plasticity and oogenesis in the queen honey bee (Apis mellifera). J Insect Physiol 2022; 136:104347. [PMID: 34902433 DOI: 10.1016/j.jinsphys.2021.104347] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2021] [Revised: 11/28/2021] [Accepted: 12/07/2021] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
In the honey bee (Apis mellifera), queen and worker castes originate from identical genetic templates but develop into different phenotypes. Queens lay up to 2000 eggs daily whereas workers are sterile in the queen's presence. Periodically queens stop laying: during swarming, when resources are scarce in winter, and when they are confined to a cage by beekeepers. We used confocal microscopy and gene expression assays to investigate the control of oogenesis in the ovaries of honey bee queens that were caged inside and outside the colony. We find evidence that queens use a different combination of 'checkpoints' to regulate oogenesis compared to honey bee workers and other insect species. However, both queen and worker castes likely use the same programmed cell death pathways to terminate oocyte development at their caste-specific checkpoints. Our results also suggest that a key factor driving the termination of oogenesis in queens is nutritional stress. Thus, queens may regulate oogenesis via the same regulatory pathways that were utilised by ancestral solitary species but likely have adjusted physiological checkpoints to suit their highly-derived life history.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah E Aamidor
- Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Laboratory, Ecology and Evolution, School of Life and Environmental Science, Macleay Building A12, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.
| | - Carlos A M Cardoso-Júnior
- Departamento de Biologia Celulare Bioagentes Patogênicos, Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirao Preto, Universidade de Sao Paulo, Ribeirao Preto, Brazil
| | - Januar Harianto
- School of Life and Environmental Science, Macleay Building A12, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Cameron J Nowell
- Drug Discovery Biology, Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Monash University, 381 Royal Parade, Parkville 3052, Victoria, Australia
| | - Louise Cole
- Microbial Imaging Facility, I3 Institute, Faculty of Science, The University of Technology Sydney, Australia
| | - Benjamin P Oldroyd
- Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Laboratory, Ecology and Evolution, School of Life and Environmental Science, Macleay Building A12, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Isobel Ronai
- Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Laboratory, Ecology and Evolution, School of Life and Environmental Science, Macleay Building A12, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
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8
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Cardoso-Júnior CAM, Yagound B, Ronai I, Remnant EJ, Hartfelder K, Oldroyd BP. DNA methylation is not a driver of gene expression reprogramming in young honey bee workers. Mol Ecol 2021; 30:4804-4818. [PMID: 34322926 DOI: 10.1111/mec.16098] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2021] [Revised: 07/06/2021] [Accepted: 07/16/2021] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
The presence of DNA methylation marks within genic intervals, also called gene body methylation, is an evolutionarily-conserved epigenetic hallmark of animal and plant methylomes. In social insects, gene body methylation is thought to contribute to behavioural plasticity, for example between foragers and nurse workers, by modulating gene expression. However, recent studies have suggested that the majority of DNA methylation is sequence-specific, and therefore cannot act as a flexible mediator between environmental cues and gene expression. To address this paradox, we examined whole-genome methylation patterns in the brains and ovaries of young honey bee workers that had been subjected to divergent social contexts: the presence or absence of the queen. Although these social contexts are known to bring about extreme changes in behavioral and reproductive traits through differential gene expression, we found no significant differences between the methylomes of workers from queenright and queenless colonies. In contrast, thousands of regions were differentially methylated between colonies, and these differences were not associated with differential gene expression in the subset of genes examined. Methylation patterns were highly similar between brain and ovary tissues and only differed in nine regions. These results strongly indicate that DNA methylation is not a driver of differential gene expression between tissues or behavioral morphs. Finally, despite the lack of difference in methylation patterns, queen presence affected the expression of all four DNA methyltransferase genes, suggesting that these enzymes have roles beyond DNA methylation. Therefore, the functional role of DNA methylation in social insect genomes remains an open question.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carlos A M Cardoso-Júnior
- Departamento de Biologia Celular e Bioagentes Patogênicos, Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brasil.,Behaviour, Ecology and Evolution (BEE) Laboratory, Ecology and Evolution, School of Life and Environmental Sciences A12, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Boris Yagound
- Behaviour, Ecology and Evolution (BEE) Laboratory, Ecology and Evolution, School of Life and Environmental Sciences A12, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Isobel Ronai
- Behaviour, Ecology and Evolution (BEE) Laboratory, Ecology and Evolution, School of Life and Environmental Sciences A12, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Emily J Remnant
- Behaviour, Ecology and Evolution (BEE) Laboratory, Ecology and Evolution, School of Life and Environmental Sciences A12, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Klaus Hartfelder
- Departamento de Biologia Celular e Bioagentes Patogênicos, Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brasil
| | - Benjamin P Oldroyd
- Behaviour, Ecology and Evolution (BEE) Laboratory, Ecology and Evolution, School of Life and Environmental Sciences A12, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.,Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
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Yagound B, Remnant EJ, Buchmann G, Oldroyd BP. Reply to Soley: DNA methylation marks are stably transferred across generations in honey bees. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2021; 118:e2109211118. [PMID: 34260407 PMCID: PMC8285941 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2109211118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Boris Yagound
- Behaviour, Ecology and Evolution Laboratory, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia;
- Evolution and Ecology Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
| | - Emily J Remnant
- Behaviour, Ecology and Evolution Laboratory, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Gabriele Buchmann
- Behaviour, Ecology and Evolution Laboratory, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
- Centre for Plant Genome Engineering, Institute of Plant Biochemistry, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Benjamin P Oldroyd
- Behaviour, Ecology and Evolution Laboratory, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
- Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin, 14193 Berlin, Germany
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10
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Oldroyd BP, Yagound B, Allsopp MH, Holmes MJ, Buchmann G, Zayed A, Beekman M. Adaptive, caste-specific changes to recombination rates in a thelytokous honeybee population. Proc Biol Sci 2021; 288:20210729. [PMID: 34102886 PMCID: PMC8187994 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2021.0729] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/27/2021] [Accepted: 05/13/2021] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The ability to clone oneself has clear benefits-no need for mate hunting or dilution of one's genome in offspring. It is therefore unsurprising that some populations of haplo-diploid social insects have evolved thelytokous parthenogenesis-the virgin birth of a female. But thelytokous parthenogenesis has a downside: the loss of heterozygosity (LoH) as a consequence of genetic recombination. LoH in haplo-diploid insects can be highly deleterious because female sex determination often relies on heterozygosity at sex-determining loci. The two female castes of the Cape honeybee, Apis mellifera capensis, differ in their mode of reproduction. While workers always reproduce thelytokously, queens always mate and reproduce sexually. For workers, it is important to reduce the frequency of recombination so as to not produce offspring that are homozygous. Here, we ask whether recombination rates differ between Cape workers and Cape queens that we experimentally manipulated to reproduce thelytokously. We tested our hypothesis that Cape workers have evolved mechanisms that restrain genetic recombination, whereas queens have no need for such mechanisms because they reproduce sexually. Using a combination of microsatellite genotyping and whole-genome sequencing we find that a reduction in recombination is confined to workers only.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin P. Oldroyd
- Behaviour, Ecology and Evolution (BEE) Laboratory, University of Sydney, Macleay Building A12, NSW 2006, Australia
- Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin, Wallotstrasse 19, 14193 Berlin, Germany
| | - Boris Yagound
- Behaviour, Ecology and Evolution (BEE) Laboratory, University of Sydney, Macleay Building A12, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Michael H. Allsopp
- Michael H Allsopp, Honeybee Research Section, ARC-Plant Protection Research Institute, Stellenbosch 7600, South Africa
| | - Michael J. Holmes
- Behaviour, Ecology and Evolution (BEE) Laboratory, University of Sydney, Macleay Building A12, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Gabrielle Buchmann
- Behaviour, Ecology and Evolution (BEE) Laboratory, University of Sydney, Macleay Building A12, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Amro Zayed
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, York University, Toronto, Ontario M3J 1P3, Canada
| | - Madeleine Beekman
- Behaviour, Ecology and Evolution (BEE) Laboratory, University of Sydney, Macleay Building A12, NSW 2006, Australia
- Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin, Wallotstrasse 19, 14193 Berlin, Germany
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11
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Abstract
Epigenetics is the study of changes in gene activity that can be transmitted through cell divisions but cannot be explained by changes in the DNA sequence. Epigenetic mechanisms are central to gene regulation, phenotypic plasticity, development and the preservation of genome integrity. Epigenetic mechanisms are often held to make a minor contribution to evolutionary change because epigenetic states are typically erased and reset at every generation, and are therefore, not heritable. Nonetheless, there is growing appreciation that epigenetic variation makes direct and indirect contributions to evolutionary processes. First, some epigenetic states are transmitted intergenerationally and affect the phenotype of offspring. Moreover, bona fide heritable 'epialleles' exist and are quite common in plants. Such epialleles could, therefore, be subject to natural selection in the same way as conventional DNA sequence-based alleles. Second, epigenetic variation enhances phenotypic plasticity and phenotypic variance and thus can modulate the effect of natural selection on sequence-based genetic variation. Third, given that phenotypic plasticity is central to the adaptability of organisms, epigenetic mechanisms that generate plasticity and acclimation are important to consider in evolutionary theory. Fourth, some genes are under selection to be 'imprinted' identifying the sex of the parent from which they were derived, leading to parent-of-origin-dependent gene expression and effects. These effects can generate hybrid disfunction and contribute to speciation. Finally, epigenetic processes, particularly DNA methylation, contribute directly to DNA sequence evolution, because they act as mutagens on the one hand and modulate genome stability on the other by keeping transposable elements in check. This article is part of the theme issue 'How does epigenetics influence the course of evolution?'
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Affiliation(s)
- Alyson Ashe
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia
| | - Vincent Colot
- Institut de Biologie de l'Ecole Normale Supérieure (IBENS), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM), Ecole Normale Supérieure, PSL Research University, 75005 Paris, France
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12
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Oldroyd BP, Yagound B. The role of epigenetics, particularly DNA methylation, in the evolution of caste in insect societies. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2021; 376:20200115. [PMID: 33866805 PMCID: PMC8059649 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 11/24/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Eusocial insects can be defined as those that live in colonies and have distinct queens and workers. For most species, queens and workers arise from a common genome, and so caste-specific developmental trajectories must arise from epigenetic processes. In this review, we examine the epigenetic mechanisms that may be involved in the regulation of caste dimorphism. Early work on honeybees suggested that DNA methylation plays a causal role in the divergent development of queen and worker castes. This view has now been challenged by studies that did not find consistent associations between methylation and caste in honeybees and other species. Evidence for the involvement of methylation in modulating behaviour of adult workers is also inconsistent. Thus, the functional significance of DNA methylation in social insects remains equivocal. This article is part of the theme issue 'How does epigenetics influence the course of evolution?'
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin P. Oldroyd
- BEE Laboratory, School of Life and Environmental Sciences A12, University of Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia
- Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin, Wallotstrasse 19, 14193 Berlin, Germany
| | - Boris Yagound
- BEE Laboratory, School of Life and Environmental Sciences A12, University of Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia
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13
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Cardoso-Júnior CAM, Oldroyd BP, Ronai I. Vitellogenin expression in the ovaries of adult honeybee workers provides insights into the evolution of reproductive and social traits. Insect Mol Biol 2021; 30:277-286. [PMID: 33427366 DOI: 10.1111/imb.12694] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2020] [Revised: 12/10/2020] [Accepted: 01/06/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Social insects are notable for having two female castes that exhibit extreme differences in their reproductive capacity. The molecular basis of these differences is largely unknown. Vitellogenin (Vg) is a powerful antioxidant and insulin-signalling regulator used in oocyte development. Here we investigate how Royal Jelly (the major food of honeybee queens) and queen mandibular pheromone (a major regulator of worker fertility), affect the longevity and reproductive status of honey bee workers, the expression of Vg, its receptor VgR and associated regulatory proteins. We find that Vg is expressed in the ovaries of workers and that workers fed a queen diet of Royal Jelly have increased Vg expression in the ovaries. Surprisingly, we find that expression of Vg is not associated with ovary activation in workers, suggesting that this gene has potentially acquired non-reproductive functions. Therefore, Vg expression in the ovaries of honeybee workers provides further support for the Ovarian Ground Plan Hypothesis, which argues that genes implicated in the regulation of reproduction have been co-opted to regulate behavioural differences between queens and workers.
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Affiliation(s)
- C A M Cardoso-Júnior
- Departamento de Biologia Celular e Bioagentes Patogênicos, Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil
- Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Laboratory, Ecology and Evolution, School of Life and Environmental Sciences A12, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - B P Oldroyd
- Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Laboratory, Ecology and Evolution, School of Life and Environmental Sciences A12, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - I Ronai
- Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Laboratory, Ecology and Evolution, School of Life and Environmental Sciences A12, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
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14
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Oldroyd BP, Yagound B. Parent-of-origin effects, allele-specific expression, genomic imprinting and paternal manipulation in social insects. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2021; 376:20200425. [PMID: 33866807 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0425] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Haplo-diploidy and the relatedness asymmetries it generates mean that social insects are prime candidates for the evolution of genomic imprinting. In single-mating social insect species, some genes may be selected to evolve genomic mechanisms that enhance reproduction by workers when they are inherited from a female. This situation reverses in multiple mating species, where genes inherited from fathers can be under selection to enhance the reproductive success of daughters. Reciprocal crosses between subspecies of honeybees have shown strong parent-of-origin effects on worker reproductive phenotypes, and this could be evidence of such genomic imprinting affecting genes related to worker reproduction. It is also possible that social insect fathers directly affect gene expression in their daughters, for example, by placing small interfering RNA molecules in semen. Gene expression studies have repeatedly found evidence of parent-specific gene expression in social insects, but it is unclear at this time whether this arises from genomic imprinting, paternal manipulation, an artefact of cyto-nuclear interactions, or all of these. This article is part of the theme issue 'How does epigenetics influence the course of evolution?'
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin P Oldroyd
- Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin, Wallotstrasse 19, 14193 Berlin, Germany.,BEE Lab, School of Life and Environmental Sciences A12, University of Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia
| | - Boris Yagound
- BEE Lab, School of Life and Environmental Sciences A12, University of Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia
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15
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Abstract
The evolutionary significance of epigenetic inheritance is controversial. While epigenetic marks such as DNA methylation can affect gene function and change in response to environmental conditions, their role as carriers of heritable information is often considered anecdotal. Indeed, near-complete DNA methylation reprogramming, as occurs during mammalian embryogenesis, is a major hindrance for the transmission of nongenetic information between generations. Yet it remains unclear how general DNA methylation reprogramming is across the tree of life. Here we investigate the existence of epigenetic inheritance in the honey bee. We studied whether fathers can transfer epigenetic information to their daughters through DNA methylation. We performed instrumental inseminations of queens, each with four different males, retaining half of each male's semen for whole genome bisulfite sequencing. We then compared the methylation profile of each father's somatic tissue and semen with the methylation profile of his daughters. We found that DNA methylation patterns were highly conserved between tissues and generations. There was a much greater similarity of methylomes within patrilines (i.e., father-daughter subfamilies) than between patrilines in each colony. Indeed, the samples' methylomes consistently clustered by patriline within colony. Samples from the same patriline had twice as many shared methylated sites and four times fewer differentially methylated regions compared to samples from different patrilines. Our findings indicate that there is no DNA methylation reprogramming in bees and, consequently, that DNA methylation marks are stably transferred between generations. This points to a greater evolutionary potential of the epigenome in invertebrates than there is in mammals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Boris Yagound
- Behaviour, Ecology and Evolution Laboratory, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia;
| | - Emily J Remnant
- Behaviour, Ecology and Evolution Laboratory, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Gabriele Buchmann
- Behaviour, Ecology and Evolution Laboratory, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Benjamin P Oldroyd
- Behaviour, Ecology and Evolution Laboratory, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
- Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin, 14193 Berlin, Germany
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16
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Cardoso-Junior CAM, Ronai I, Hartfelder K, Oldroyd BP. Queen pheromone modulates the expression of epigenetic modifier genes in the brain of honeybee workers. Biol Lett 2020; 16:20200440. [PMID: 33290662 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2020.0440] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Pheromones are used by many insects to mediate social interactions. In the highly eusocial honeybee (Apis mellifera), queen mandibular pheromone (QMP) is involved in the regulation of the reproductive and other behaviour of workers. The molecular mechanisms by which QMP acts are largely unknown. Here, we investigate how genes responsible for epigenetic modifications to DNA, RNA and histones respond to the presence of QMP in the environment. We show that several of these genes are upregulated in the honeybee brain when workers are exposed to artificial QMP. We propose that pheromonal communication systems, such as those used by social insects, evolved to respond to environmental signals by making use of existing epigenomic machineries.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carlos Antônio Mendes Cardoso-Junior
- Departamento de Biologia Celular e Bioagentes Patogênicos, Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil.,Behaviour, Ecology and Evolution (BEE) laboratory, University of Sydney, Macleay Building A12, Sydney NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Isobel Ronai
- Behaviour, Ecology and Evolution (BEE) laboratory, University of Sydney, Macleay Building A12, Sydney NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Klaus Hartfelder
- Departamento de Biologia Celular e Bioagentes Patogênicos, Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil
| | - Benjamin P Oldroyd
- Behaviour, Ecology and Evolution (BEE) laboratory, University of Sydney, Macleay Building A12, Sydney NSW 2006, Australia
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17
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Meemongkolkiat T, Allison J, Seebacher F, Lim J, Chanchao C, Oldroyd BP. Thermal adaptation in the honeybee ( Apis mellifera) via changes to the structure of malate dehydrogenase. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2020; 223:jeb.228239. [PMID: 32680901 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.228239] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2020] [Accepted: 07/14/2020] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
In honeybees there are three alleles of cytosolic malate dehydrogenase gene: F, M and S. Allele frequencies are correlated with environmental temperature, suggesting that the alleles have temperature-dependent fitness benefits. We determined the enzyme activity of each allele across a range of temperatures in vitro The F and S alleles have higher activity and are less sensitive to high temperatures than the M allele, which loses activity after incubation at temperatures found in the thorax of foraging bees in hot climates. Next, we predicted the protein structure of each allele and used molecular dynamics simulations to investigate their molecular flexibility. The M allozyme is more flexible than the S and F allozymes at 50°C, suggesting a plausible explanation for its loss of activity at high temperatures, and has the greatest structural flexibility at 15°C, suggesting that it can retain some enzyme activity at cooler temperatures. MM bees recovered from 2 h of cold narcosis significantly better than all other genotypes. Combined, these results explain clinal variation in malate dehydrogenase allele frequencies in the honeybee at the molecular level.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thitipan Meemongkolkiat
- Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand.,Macleay Building A12, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Jane Allison
- Digital Life Institute and Maurice Wilkins Centre for Molecular Biodiscovery, School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland, Private Bag, 92019 Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Frank Seebacher
- Heyden Laurence Building, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Julianne Lim
- Macleay Building A12, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Chanpen Chanchao
- Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand
| | - Benjamin P Oldroyd
- Macleay Building A12, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
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18
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Smith NMA, Yagound B, Remnant EJ, Foster CSP, Buchmann G, Allsopp MH, Kent CF, Zayed A, Rose SA, Lo K, Ashe A, Harpur BA, Beekman M, Oldroyd BP. Paternally-biased gene expression follows kin-selected predictions in female honey bee embryos. Mol Ecol 2020; 29:1523-1533. [PMID: 32220095 DOI: 10.1111/mec.15419] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/03/2019] [Revised: 03/01/2020] [Accepted: 03/12/2020] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
The Kinship Theory of Genomic Imprinting (KTGI) posits that, in species where females mate with multiple males, there is selection for a male to enhance the reproductive success of his offspring at the expense of other males and his mating partner. Reciprocal crosses between honey bee subspecies show parent-of-origin effects for reproductive traits, suggesting that males modify the expression of genes related to female function in their female offspring. This effect is likely to be greater in the Cape honey bee (Apis mellifera capensis), because a male's daughters have the unique ability to produce female offspring that can develop into reproductive workers or the next queen without mating. We generated reciprocal crosses between Capensis and another subspecies and used RNA-seq to identify transcripts that are over- or underexpressed in the embryos, depending on the parental origin of the gene. As predicted, 21 genes showed expression bias towards the Capensis father's allele in colonies with a Capensis father, with no such bias in the reciprocal cross. A further six genes showed a consistent bias towards expression of the father's allele across all eight colonies examined, regardless of the direction of the cross. Consistent with predictions of the KTGI, six of the 21 genes are associated with female reproduction. No gene consistently showed overexpression of the maternal allele.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicholas M A Smith
- Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Laboratory, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Boris Yagound
- Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Laboratory, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Emily J Remnant
- Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Laboratory, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Charles S P Foster
- Evolutionary and Integrative Zoology Laboratory, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Gabriele Buchmann
- Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Laboratory, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Michael H Allsopp
- Honey Bee Research Section, ARC-Plant Protection Research Institute, Stellenbosch, South Africa
| | - Clement F Kent
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, York University, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Amro Zayed
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, York University, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Stephen A Rose
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, York University, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Kitty Lo
- Statistics Research Group, Charles Perkins Centre, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Alyson Ashe
- Molecular Biosciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Brock A Harpur
- Department of Entomology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA
| | - Madeleine Beekman
- Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Laboratory, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Benjamin P Oldroyd
- Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Laboratory, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
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19
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Rattanawannee A, Duangphakdee O, Chanchao C, Teerapakpinyo C, Warrit N, Wongsiri S, Oldroyd BP. Genetic Characterization of Exotic Commercial Honey Bee (Hymenoptera: Apidae) Populations in Thailand Reveals High Genetic Diversity and Low Population Substructure. J Econ Entomol 2020; 113:34-42. [PMID: 31769836 DOI: 10.1093/jee/toz298] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/17/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Domestication of animal species is often associated with a reduction in genetic diversity. The honey bee, Apis mellifera Linnaeus, 1758, has been managed by beekeepers for millennia for both honey and wax production and for crop pollination. Here we use both microsatellite markers and sequence data from the mitochondrial COI gene to evaluate genetic variation of managed A. mellifera in Thailand, where the species is introduced. Microsatellite analysis revealed high average genetic diversity with expected heterozygosities ranging from 0.620 ± 0.184 to 0.734 ± 0.071 per locus per province. Observed heterozygosities were generally lower than those expected under Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, both locally and across the population as a whole. Mitochondrial sequencing revealed that the frequency of two evolutionary linages (C-Eastern European and O-Middle Eastern) are similar to those observed in a previous survey 10 yr ago. Our results suggest that Thai beekeepers are managing their A. mellifera in ways that retain overall genetic diversity, but reduce genetic diversity between apiaries.
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Affiliation(s)
- Atsalek Rattanawannee
- Department of Entomology, Faculty of Agriculture, Kasetsart University, Chatuchak, Bangkok, Thailand
| | - Orawan Duangphakdee
- King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi, Ratchaburi Campus, Bangmod, Thung Khru, Bangkok, Thailand
| | - Chanpen Chanchao
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
| | - Chinachote Teerapakpinyo
- Chulalongkorn GenePRO Center, Research Affairs, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
| | - Nattapot Warrit
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
| | - Siriwat Wongsiri
- Agricultural Interdisciplinary Program, Graduate School, Maejo University, Chiang Mai, Thailand
| | - Benjamin P Oldroyd
- Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Laboratory, Macleay Building A12, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
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20
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Françoso E, Zuntini AR, Ricardo PC, Silva JPN, Brito R, Oldroyd BP, Arias MC. Conserved numts mask a highly divergent mitochondrial- COI gene in a species complex of Australian stingless bees Tetragonula (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Mitochondrial DNA A DNA Mapp Seq Anal 2019; 30:806-817. [PMID: 31526165 DOI: 10.1080/24701394.2019.1665036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Tetragonula carbonaria, Tetragonula davenporti, Tetragonula hockingsi and Tetragonula mellipes comprise a species complex of Australian stingless bee species known as the 'Carbonaria' group. The species are difficult to distinguish morphologically and the major species-defining characters relate to comb architecture and nest entrance ornamentation. The taxonomy of the group is further complicated by likely nuclear mitochondrial pseudogenes (numts) and inter-specific hybrids. Here we demonstrate the existence of COI numts and isolate and characterize the 'true' mt-COI gene in T. carbonaria and T. hockingsi. Numts were isolated from enriched-nuclear DNA extraction followed by PCR amplification and Sanger sequencing, and were recognized by the presence of deletions and/or premature stop codons in the translated sequences. The mt-COI sequences were obtained from NGS sequencing using purified mtDNA. In T. carbonaria, two numts (numt1 and numt2) were identified and a third (numt3) was identified in T. hockingsi. Numt2 and numt3 are similar (1.2% sequence divergence), indicating a recent common origin. The genetic distance between the mt-COI of the two Tetragonula species was higher than might be expected for closely related species, 16.5%, corroborating previous studies in which T. carbonaria and T. hockingsi were regarded as separate species. The three numts are more similar to the COI of other stingless bee species, including Australian Austroplebia australis and South American Melipona bicolor (81.7-83.9%) than to the mt-COI of their own species (70-71.4%). This is because the mt-COI of T. carbonaria and T. hockingsi differ greatly from other Meliponinae. Our findings explain some formerly puzzling aspects of Carbonaria biogeography, and misinterpreted amplifications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elaine Françoso
- Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo , Rua do Matão , Brazil
| | | | | | | | - Rute Brito
- Instituto de Biotecnologia, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia , Uberlândia , Brazil
| | - Benjamin P Oldroyd
- Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Lab, University of Sydney , Sydney , Australia
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21
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Yagound B, Smith NMA, Buchmann G, Oldroyd BP, Remnant EJ. Unique DNA Methylation Profiles Are Associated with cis-Variation in Honey Bees. Genome Biol Evol 2019; 11:2517-2530. [PMID: 31406991 PMCID: PMC6740151 DOI: 10.1093/gbe/evz177] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 08/09/2019] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
DNA methylation is an important epigenetic modification that mediates diverse processes such as cellular differentiation, phenotypic plasticity, and genomic imprinting. Mounting evidence suggests that local DNA sequence variation can be associated with particular DNA methylation states, indicating that the interplay between genetic and epigenetic factors may contribute synergistically to the phenotypic complexity of organisms. Social insects such as ants, bees, and wasps have extensive phenotypic plasticity manifested in their different castes, and this plasticity has been associated with variation in DNA methylation. Yet, the influence of genetic variation on DNA methylation state remains mostly unknown. Here we examine the importance of sequence-specific methylation at the genome-wide level, using whole-genome bisulfite sequencing of the semen of individual honey bee males. We find that individual males harbor unique DNA methylation patterns in their semen, and that genes that are more variable at the epigenetic level are also more likely to be variable at the genetic level. DNA sequence variation can affect DNA methylation by modifying CG sites directly, but can also be associated with local variation in cis that is not CG-site specific. We show that covariation in sequence polymorphism and DNA methylation state contributes to the individual-specificity of epigenetic marks in social insects, which likely promotes their retention across generations, and their capacity to influence evolutionary adaptation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Boris Yagound
- Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Laboratory, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Australia
| | - Nicholas M A Smith
- Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Laboratory, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Australia
| | - Gabriele Buchmann
- Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Laboratory, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Australia
| | - Benjamin P Oldroyd
- Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Laboratory, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Australia
| | - Emily J Remnant
- Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Laboratory, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Australia
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22
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Beekman M, Oldroyd BP. Conflict and major transitions - why we need true queens. Curr Opin Insect Sci 2019; 34:73-79. [PMID: 31247422 DOI: 10.1016/j.cois.2019.03.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2018] [Revised: 03/18/2019] [Accepted: 03/27/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
In contrast to human societies, where kings and queens can be sources of conflict, we argue that the morphologically distinct queens of insect colonies are central to the minimization of conflict within their societies. Thus, the evolution of irreversible queen and worker castes represents a major transition in social evolution. Queens are selected to become better reproducers, and workers are selected to become better workers. The reproductive success of queens and workers are, therefore, inextricably linked. Workers achieve reproductive success by assisting the queen, whereas the queen needs her workers to provide her with the wherewithal to raise her brood. The tighter the mutual dependence, the lower conflict, and the larger insect societies can become. As the queen becomes a better breeder, workers are selected to become better at raising their siblings. Yet, nothing in nature is ever free of conflict and with the evolution of a true worker caste a new set of conflicts arises. Multiple mating by queens in particular opens the door to a new set of conflicts. Ironically, multiple mating can only evolve once within-colony conflict is reduced by evolving a true worker caste.
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Affiliation(s)
- Madeleine Beekman
- Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Lab, School of Life and Environmental Sciences A12, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Benjamin P Oldroyd
- Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Lab, School of Life and Environmental Sciences A12, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
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23
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Christmas MJ, Smith NMA, Oldroyd BP, Webster MT. Social Parasitism in the Honeybee (Apis mellifera) Is Not Controlled by a Single SNP. Mol Biol Evol 2019; 36:1764-1767. [DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msz100] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
The Cape bee (Apis mellifera capensis) is a subspecies of the honeybee, in which workers commonly lay diploid unfertilized eggs via a process known as thelytoky. A recent study aimed to map the genetic basis of this trait in the progeny of a single capensis queen where workers laid either diploid (thelytokous) or haploid (arrhenotokous) eggs. A nonsynonymous single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in a gene of unknown function was reported to be strongly associated with thelytoky in this colony. Here, we analyze genome sequences from a global sample of A. mellifera and identify populations where the proposed thelytoky allele at this SNP is common but thelytoky is absent. We also analyze genome sequences of three capensis queens produced by thelytoky and find that, contrary to predictions, they do not carry the proposed thelytoky allele. The proposed SNP is therefore neither sufficient nor required to produce thelytoky in A. mellifera.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew J Christmas
- Department of Medical Biochemistry and Microbiology, Science for Life Laboratory, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Nicholas M A Smith
- Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Lab, Ecology and Evolution, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Benjamin P Oldroyd
- Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Lab, Ecology and Evolution, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Matthew T Webster
- Department of Medical Biochemistry and Microbiology, Science for Life Laboratory, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
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24
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Gloag RS, Christie JR, Ding G, Stephens RE, Buchmann G, Oldroyd BP. Workers' sons rescue genetic diversity at the sex locus in an invasive honey bee population. Mol Ecol 2019; 28:1585-1592. [DOI: 10.1111/mec.15031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/21/2018] [Revised: 12/11/2018] [Accepted: 01/10/2019] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Rosalyn S. Gloag
- Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Laboratory, School of Life and Environment Sciences University of Sydney Sydney New South Wales Australia
| | - Joshua R. Christie
- Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Laboratory, School of Life and Environment Sciences University of Sydney Sydney New South Wales Australia
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies University of Zurich Zürich Switzerland
| | - Guiling Ding
- Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Laboratory, School of Life and Environment Sciences University of Sydney Sydney New South Wales Australia
- Key Laboratory of Pollinating Insect Biology of the Ministry of Agriculture, Institute of Apicultural Research Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences Beijing China
| | - Ruby E. Stephens
- Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Laboratory, School of Life and Environment Sciences University of Sydney Sydney New South Wales Australia
| | - Gabriele Buchmann
- Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Laboratory, School of Life and Environment Sciences University of Sydney Sydney New South Wales Australia
| | - Benjamin P. Oldroyd
- Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Laboratory, School of Life and Environment Sciences University of Sydney Sydney New South Wales Australia
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25
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Beekman M, Oldroyd BP. Different bees, different needs: how nest-site requirements have shaped the decision-making processes in homeless honeybees ( Apis spp.). Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2019; 373:rstb.2017.0010. [PMID: 29581395 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2017.0010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 06/27/2017] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
During reproductive swarming, a honeybee swarm needs to decide on a new nest site and then move to the chosen site collectively. Most studies of swarming and nest-site selection are based on one species, Apis mellifera Natural colonies of A. mellifera live in tree cavities. The quality of the cavity is critical to the survival of a swarm. Other honeybee species nest in the open, and have less strict nest-site requirements, such as the open-nesting dwarf honeybee Apis floreaApis florea builds a nest comprised of a single comb suspended from a twig. For a cavity-nesting species, there is only a limited number of potential nest sites that can be located by a swarm, because suitable sites are scarce. By contrast, for an open-nesting species, there is an abundance of equally suitable twigs. While the decision-making process of cavity-nesting bees is geared towards selecting the best site possible, open-nesting species need to coordinate collective movement towards areas with potential nest sites. Here, we argue that the nest-site selection processes of A. florea and A. mellifera have been shaped by each species' specific nest-site requirements. Both species use the same behavioural algorithm, tuned to allow each species to solve their species-specific problem.This article is part of the theme issue 'Collective movement ecology'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Madeleine Beekman
- Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Lab, School of Life and Environmental Sciences A12, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia
| | - Benjamin P Oldroyd
- Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Lab, School of Life and Environmental Sciences A12, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia
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Chapman NC, Dos Santos Cocenza R, Blanchard B, Nguyen LM, Lim J, Buchmann G, Oldroyd BP. Genetic Diversity in the Progeny of Commercial Australian Queen Honey Bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae) Produced in Autumn and Early Spring. J Econ Entomol 2019; 112:33-39. [PMID: 30285107 DOI: 10.1093/jee/toy308] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Honey bee [Apis mellifera L. (Hymenoptera: Apidae)] queens are polyandrous, mating with an average 12 males (drones). Polyandry has been shown to confer benefits to queens and the colonies they head, including avoidance of inviable brood that can arise via sex locus homozygosity, increased resilience to pests and pathogens, and increased survival and productivity, leading to improved colony-level fitness. Queens with an effective mating frequency (ke) greater than 7 are considered adequately mated, whereas queens that fall below this threshold head colonies that have increased likelihood of failure and may be less productive for beekeepers. We determined ke in queens produced in early Spring and Autumn by five Australian commercial queen producers to determine whether the queens they produced were suitably mated. Drone populations are low at these times of year, and therefore, there is an increased risk that queens would fall below the ke > 7 threshold. We found that 33.8% of Autumn-produced queens did not meet the threshold, whereas 93.8% of Spring queens were adequately mated. The number of colonies contributing drones to the mating pool was similarly high in both seasons, suggesting that although many colonies have drones, their numbers may be decreased in Autumn and management strategies may be required to boost drone numbers at this time. Finally, queens had similar levels of homozygosity to workers, and inbreeding coefficients were very low, suggesting that inbreeding is not a problem.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nadine C Chapman
- Ecology, Evolution and Environment, Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Laboratory, University of Sydney, School of Life and Environmental Science, Macleay Building, Sydney, NSW
| | - Rani Dos Santos Cocenza
- Ecology, Evolution and Environment, Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Laboratory, University of Sydney, School of Life and Environmental Science, Macleay Building, Sydney, NSW
| | - Benjamin Blanchard
- Ecology, Evolution and Environment, Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Laboratory, University of Sydney, School of Life and Environmental Science, Macleay Building, Sydney, NSW
| | - Lucy M Nguyen
- Ecology, Evolution and Environment, Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Laboratory, University of Sydney, School of Life and Environmental Science, Macleay Building, Sydney, NSW
| | - Julianne Lim
- Ecology, Evolution and Environment, Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Laboratory, University of Sydney, School of Life and Environmental Science, Macleay Building, Sydney, NSW
| | - Gabriele Buchmann
- Ecology, Evolution and Environment, Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Laboratory, University of Sydney, School of Life and Environmental Science, Macleay Building, Sydney, NSW
| | - Benjamin P Oldroyd
- Ecology, Evolution and Environment, Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Laboratory, University of Sydney, School of Life and Environmental Science, Macleay Building, Sydney, NSW
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Smith NMA, Wade C, Allsopp MH, Harpur BA, Zayed A, Rose SA, Engelstädter J, Chapman NC, Yagound B, Oldroyd BP. Strikingly high levels of heterozygosity despite 20 years of inbreeding in a clonal honey bee. J Evol Biol 2018; 32:144-152. [DOI: 10.1111/jeb.13397] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2018] [Revised: 10/11/2018] [Accepted: 11/05/2018] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Nicholas M. A. Smith
- Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Laboratory The University of Sydney Sydney New South Wales Australia
| | - Claire Wade
- Faculty of Veterinary Science The University of Sydney Sydney New South Wales Australia
| | - Michael H. Allsopp
- Honey Bee Research Section ARC‐Plant Protection Research Institute Stellenbosch South Africa
| | - Brock A. Harpur
- Department of Biology Faculty of Science York University Toronto Ontario Canada
| | - Amro Zayed
- Department of Biology Faculty of Science York University Toronto Ontario Canada
| | - Stephen A. Rose
- Department of Biology Faculty of Science York University Toronto Ontario Canada
| | - Jan Engelstädter
- School of Biological Sciences The University of Queensland Brisbane Queensland Australia
| | - Nadine C. Chapman
- Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Laboratory The University of Sydney Sydney New South Wales Australia
| | - Boris Yagound
- Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Laboratory The University of Sydney Sydney New South Wales Australia
| | - Benjamin P. Oldroyd
- Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Laboratory The University of Sydney Sydney New South Wales Australia
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Aamidor SE, Yagound B, Ronai I, Oldroyd BP. Sex mosaics in the honeybee: how haplodiploidy makes possible the evolution of novel forms of reproduction in social Hymenoptera. Biol Lett 2018; 14:rsbl.2018.0670. [PMID: 30487261 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2018.0670] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2018] [Accepted: 10/31/2018] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Hymenoptera are haplodiploid: females arise from fertilized, diploid eggs, while males arise from unfertilized, haploid eggs. The cytogenetic mechanisms underlying haplodiploidy enable remarkable phenomena including female cloning, male cloning and gynandromorphy (sex mosaics). We collected 11 newly emerged putative gynandromorph honeybees from a single colony, assessed the sex of various tissues morphologically and determined the genetic origin (maternal or paternal) of each tissue by genotyping. Ten bees were gynandromorphs with one to three distinct paternal origins. Remarkably, one bee carried no maternal alleles. This bee had female organs throughout, and arose from the fusion of two sperm nuclei. This is the first reported case in the Hymenoptera of sperm fusion resulting in a female, emphasizing the flexibility for social insect reproduction and potentially novel colony-level social structures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah E Aamidor
- Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Laboratory, Ecology and Evolution, University of Sydney, Macleay Building A12, New South Wales 2006, Australia
| | - Boris Yagound
- Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Laboratory, Ecology and Evolution, University of Sydney, Macleay Building A12, New South Wales 2006, Australia
| | - Isobel Ronai
- Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Laboratory, Ecology and Evolution, University of Sydney, Macleay Building A12, New South Wales 2006, Australia
| | - Benjamin P Oldroyd
- Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Laboratory, Ecology and Evolution, University of Sydney, Macleay Building A12, New South Wales 2006, Australia
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29
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Oldroyd BP. Queen pheromone: contraceptive or a queen presence signal?—A comment on Holman. Behav Ecol 2018. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/ary048] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin P Oldroyd
- Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Lab, Macleay Building A12, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
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30
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Ronai I, Allsopp MH, Tan K, Dong S, Liu X, Vergoz V, Oldroyd BP. The dynamic association between ovariole loss and sterility in adult honeybee workers. Proc Biol Sci 2018; 284:rspb.2016.2693. [PMID: 28356452 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2016.2693] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2016] [Accepted: 02/27/2017] [Indexed: 01/29/2023] Open
Abstract
In the social insects, ovary state (the presence or absence of mature oocytes) and ovary size (the number of ovarioles) are often used as proxies for the reproductive capacity of an individual worker. Ovary size is assumed to be fixed post-eclosion whereas ovary state is demonstrably plastic post-eclosion. Here, we show that in fact ovary size declines as honeybee workers age. This finding is robust across two honeybee species: Apis mellifera and A. cerana The ovariole loss is likely to be due to the regression of particular ovarioles via programmed cell death. We also provide further support for the observation that honeybee workers with activated ovaries (mature oocytes present) most commonly have five ovarioles rather than a greater or smaller number. This result suggests that workers with more than five ovarioles are unable to physiologically support more than five activated ovarioles and that workers with fewer than five ovarioles are below a threshold necessary for ovary activation. As a worker's ovariole number declines with age, studies on worker ovariole number need to take this plasticity into account.
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Affiliation(s)
- Isobel Ronai
- Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Laboratory, School of Biological Sciences A12, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia
| | - Michael H Allsopp
- Honeybee Research Section, ARC-Plant Protection Research Institute, Private Bag X5017, Stellenbosch 7599, Western Cape, South Africa
| | - Ken Tan
- Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Science, Kunming, Yunnan Province 650223, People's Republic of China.,Eastern Bee Research Institute of Yunnan Agricultural University, Heilongtan, Kunming, Yunnan Province 650201, People's Republic of China
| | - Shihao Dong
- Eastern Bee Research Institute of Yunnan Agricultural University, Heilongtan, Kunming, Yunnan Province 650201, People's Republic of China
| | - Xiwen Liu
- Eastern Bee Research Institute of Yunnan Agricultural University, Heilongtan, Kunming, Yunnan Province 650201, People's Republic of China
| | - Vanina Vergoz
- Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Laboratory, School of Biological Sciences A12, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia
| | - Benjamin P Oldroyd
- Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Laboratory, School of Biological Sciences A12, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia
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Schwander T, Oldroyd BP. Androgenesis: where males hijack eggs to clone themselves. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2017; 371:rstb.2015.0534. [PMID: 27619698 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2015.0534] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 06/02/2016] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Androgenesis is a form of quasi-sexual reproduction in which a male is the sole source of the nuclear genetic material in the embryo. Two types of androgenesis occur in nature. Under the first type, females produce eggs without a nucleus and the embryo develops from the male gamete following fertilization. Evolution of this type of androgenesis is poorly understood as the parent responsible for androgenesis (the mother) gains no benefit from it. Ultimate factors driving the evolution of the second type of androgenesis are better understood. In this case, a zygote is formed between a male and a female gamete, but the female genome is eliminated. When rare, androgenesis with genome elimination is favoured because an androgenesis-determining allele has twice the reproductive success of an allele that determines sexual reproduction. Paradoxically, except in hermaphrodites, a successful androgenetic strain can drive such a male-biased sex ratio that the population goes extinct. This likely explains why androgenesis with genome elimination appears to be rarer than androgenesis via non-nucleate eggs, although both forms are either very rare or remain largely undetected in nature. Nonetheless, some highly invasive species including ants and freshwater clams are androgenetic, for reasons that are largely unexplained.This article is part of the themed issue 'Weird sex: the underappreciated diversity of sexual reproduction'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tanja Schwander
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Benjamin P Oldroyd
- Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Lab, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Macleay Building A12, Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia
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32
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Yagound B, Duncan M, Chapman NC, Oldroyd BP. Subfamily-dependent alternative reproductive strategies in worker honeybees. Mol Ecol 2017; 26:6938-6947. [PMID: 29113015 DOI: 10.1111/mec.14417] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2017] [Revised: 10/06/2017] [Accepted: 10/16/2017] [Indexed: 02/01/2023]
Abstract
Functional worker sterility is the defining feature of insect societies. Yet, workers are sometimes found reproducing in their own or foreign colonies. The proximate mechanisms underlying these alternative reproductive phenotypes are keys to understanding how reproductive altruism and selfishness are balanced in eusocial insects. In this study, we show that in honeybee (Apis mellifera) colonies, the social environment of a worker, that is, the presence and relatedness of the queens in a worker's natal colony and in surrounding colonies, significantly influences her fertility and drifting behaviour. Furthermore, subfamilies vary in the frequency of worker ovarian activation, propensity to drift and the kind of host colony that is targeted for reproductive parasitism. Our results show that there is an interplay between a worker's subfamily, reproductive state and social environment that substantially affects her reproductive phenotype. Our study further indicates that honeybee populations show substantial genetic variance for worker reproductive strategies, suggesting that no one strategy is optimal under all the circumstances that a typical worker may encounter.
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Affiliation(s)
- Boris Yagound
- Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Laboratory, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Michael Duncan
- School of Science and Health, Western Sydney University, Richmond, NSW, Australia
| | - Nadine C Chapman
- Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Laboratory, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Benjamin P Oldroyd
- Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Laboratory, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
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Francisco FO, Santiago LR, Mizusawa YM, Oldroyd BP, Arias MC. Population structuring of the ubiquitous stingless bee Tetragonisca angustula in southern Brazil as revealed by microsatellite and mitochondrial markers. Insect Sci 2017; 24:877-890. [PMID: 27334308 DOI: 10.1111/1744-7917.12371] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Revised: 04/27/2016] [Accepted: 05/05/2016] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
Tetragonisca angustula is one of the most widespread stingless bees in the Neotropics. This species swarms frequently and is extremely successful in urban environments. In addition, it is one of the most popular stingless bee species for beekeeping in Latin America, so nest transportation and trading is common. Nest transportation can change the genetic structure of the host population, reducing inbreeding and increasing homogenization. Here, we evaluate the genetic structure of 17 geographic populations of T. angustula in southern Brazil to quantify the level of genetic differentiation between populations. Analyses were conducted on partially sequenced mitochondrial genes and 11 microsatellite loci of 1002 workers from 457 sites distributed on the mainland and on 3 islands. Our results show that T. angustula populations are highly differentiated as demonstrated by mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and microsatellite markers. Of 73 haplotypes, 67 were population-specific. MtDNA diversity was low in 9 populations but microsatellite diversity was moderate to high in all populations. Microsatellite data suggest 10 genetic clusters and low level of gene flow throughout the studied area. However, physical barriers, such as rivers and mountain ranges, or the presence or absence of forest appear to be unrelated to population clusters. Factors such as low dispersal, different ecological conditions, and isolation by distance are most likely shaping the population structure of this species. Thus far, nest transportation has not influenced the general population structure in the studied area. However, due to the genetic structure we found, we recommend that nest transportation should only occur within and between populations that are genetically similar.
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Affiliation(s)
- Flávio O Francisco
- Departamento de Genética e Biologia Evolutiva, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, Rua do Matão 277 - sala 320, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
- Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Lab, School of Life and Environmental Sciences A12, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Leandro R Santiago
- Departamento de Genética e Biologia Evolutiva, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, Rua do Matão 277 - sala 320, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
| | - Yuri M Mizusawa
- Departamento de Genética e Biologia Evolutiva, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, Rua do Matão 277 - sala 320, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
| | - Benjamin P Oldroyd
- Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Lab, School of Life and Environmental Sciences A12, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Maria C Arias
- Departamento de Genética e Biologia Evolutiva, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, Rua do Matão 277 - sala 320, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
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34
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Ding G, Xu H, Oldroyd BP, Gloag RS. Extreme polyandry aids the establishment of invasive populations of a social insect. Heredity (Edinb) 2017; 119:381-387. [PMID: 28832579 DOI: 10.1038/hdy.2017.49] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2017] [Revised: 06/27/2017] [Accepted: 07/12/2017] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Although monandry is believed to have facilitated the evolution of eusociality, many highly eusocial insects have since evolved extreme polyandry. The transition to extreme polyandry was likely driven by the benefits of within-colony genetic variance to task specialization and/or disease resistance, but the extent to which it confers secondary benefits, once evolved, is unclear. Here we investigate the consequences of extreme polyandry on the invasive potential of the Asian honey bee, Apis cerana. In honey bees and other Hymenoptera, small newly founded invasive populations must overcome the genetic constraint of their sex determination system that requires heterozygosity at a sex-determining locus to produce viable females. We find A. cerana queens in an invasive population mate with an average of 27 males (range 16-42) that would result in the founding queen/s carrying 75% of their source population's sex alleles in stored sperm. This mating frequency is similar to native-range Chinese A. cerana (mean 29 males, range 19-46). Simulations reveal that extreme polyandry reduces the risk, relative to monandry or moderate polyandry, that colonies produce a high incidence of inviable brood in populations that have experienced a founder event, that is, when sex allele diversity is low and/or allele frequencies are unequal. Thus, extreme polyandry aids the invasiveness of A. cerana in two ways: (1) by increasing the sex locus allelic richness carried to new populations with each founder, thereby increasing sex locus heterozygosity; and (2) by reducing the population variance in colony fitness following a founder event.
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Affiliation(s)
- G Ding
- College of Plant Protection, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China.,Key Laboratory of Pollinating Insect Biology of the Ministry of Agriculture, Institute of Apicultural Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - H Xu
- College of Plant Protection, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China
| | - B P Oldroyd
- Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Laboratory, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - R S Gloag
- Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Laboratory, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
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35
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Montague CE, Oldroyd BP. THE EVOLUTION OF WORKER STERILITY IN HONEY BEES: AN INVESTIGATION INTO A BEHAVIORAL MUTANT CAUSING FAILURE OF WORKER POLICING. Evolution 2017; 52:1408-1415. [PMID: 28565389 DOI: 10.1111/j.1558-5646.1998.tb02022.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/03/1997] [Accepted: 04/30/1998] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Normally, worker honey bees (Apis mellifera) only lay eggs when their colony is queenless. When a queen is present, worker egg-laying is controlled by mutual "policing" behavior in which any rare worker-laid eggs are eaten by other workers. However, an extremely rare behavioral phenotype arises in which workers develop functional ovaries and lay large numbers of eggs despite the presence of the queen. In this study, microsatellite analysis was used to determine the maternity of drones produced in such a colony under various conditions. One subfamily was found to account for about 90% of drone progeny, with the remainder being laid by other subfamilies or the queen. No evidence of queen policing was found. After a one-month period of extreme worker oviposition in spring, the colony studied reverted to normal behavior and showed no signs of worker oviposition. However, upon removal of the queen, workers commenced oviposition very quickly. Significantly, the subfamily that laid eggs when the queen was present did not contribute to the drone production when the colony was queenless. However, another subfamily contributed a disproportionately large number of drones. The frequency of worker oviposition appears to be determined by opposing selective forces. Individual bees benefit from personal reproduction, whereas other bees and the colony are disadvantaged by it. Thus a behavioral polymorphism can be maintained in the population in which some workers can escape worker policing, with balancing selection at the colony level to detect and eliminate these mutations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Claire E Montague
- School of Biological Sciences All, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, 2006, Australia
| | - Benjamin P Oldroyd
- School of Biological Sciences All, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, 2006, Australia
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36
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Clarke GM, Oldroyd BP, Hunt P. THE GENETIC BASIS OF DEVELOPMENTAL STABILITY INAPIS MELLIFERA:HETEROZYGOSITY VERSUS GENIC BALANCE. Evolution 2017; 46:753-762. [PMID: 28568667 DOI: 10.1111/j.1558-5646.1992.tb02081.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 65] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/1991] [Accepted: 09/20/1991] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Geoffrey M. Clarke
- CSIRO Division of Entomology; G.P.O. Box 1700 Canberra City A.C.T. 2601 AUSTRALIA
| | - Benjamin P. Oldroyd
- USDA-ARS-Honey-Bee Breeding, Genetics and Physiology Research; 1157 Ben Hur Road Baton Rouge LA 70820 USA
| | - Peter Hunt
- Institute of Plant Sciences; Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs; Burnley Gardens, Swan Street. Burnley Victoria 3121 AUSTRALIA
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Abstract
In social insect colonies the presence of a queen, secreting her pheromones, is a key environmental cue for regulating the reproductive state of workers. However, until recently the proximate molecular mechanisms underlying facultative worker sterility were unidentified. Studies into worker oogenesis in the honey bee (Apis mellifera) have indicated that programmed cell death is central to the regulation of oogenesis. Here we investigate how queen pheromone, age of the worker and ovary state affect both programmed cell death and cell number in worker ovaries. We describe a novel method to simultaneously measure programmed cell death (caspase activity) and live cell number (estimated from the amount of adenosine triphosphate) in an insect tissue. Workers exposed to queen pheromone have higher levels of caspase activity in the ovary than those not exposed. Our results suggest that queen pheromone triggers programmed cell death at the mid-oogenesis checkpoint causing the abortion of worker oocytes and reproductive inhibition of the worker caste. Nonetheless, high caspase activity is present in activated ovaries from workers not exposed to queen pheromone. This caspase activity is most likely to be from the nurse cells undergoing programmed cell death, in late oogenesis, for normal oocyte development. Our study shows that the social environment of an organism can influence programmed cell death within a tissue.
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Affiliation(s)
- I Ronai
- Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Laboratory, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - B P Oldroyd
- Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Laboratory, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - V Vergoz
- Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Laboratory, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
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38
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Remnant EJ, Ashe A, Young PE, Buchmann G, Beekman M, Allsopp MH, Suter CM, Drewell RA, Oldroyd BP. Parent-of-origin effects on genome-wide DNA methylation in the Cape honey bee (Apis mellifera capensis) may be confounded by allele-specific methylation. BMC Genomics 2016; 17:226. [PMID: 26969617 PMCID: PMC4788913 DOI: 10.1186/s12864-016-2506-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/27/2015] [Accepted: 02/19/2016] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Intersexual genomic conflict sometimes leads to unequal expression of paternal and maternal alleles in offspring, resulting in parent-of-origin effects. In honey bees reciprocal crosses can show strong parent-of-origin effects, supporting theoretical predictions that genomic imprinting occurs in this species. Mechanisms behind imprinting in honey bees are unclear but differential DNA methylation in eggs and sperm suggests that DNA methylation could be involved. Nonetheless, because DNA methylation is multifunctional, it is difficult to separate imprinting from other roles of methylation. Here we use a novel approach to investigate parent-of-origin DNA methylation in honey bees. In the subspecies Apis mellifera capensis, reproduction of females occurs either sexually by fertilization of eggs with sperm, or via thelytokous parthenogenesis, producing female embryos derived from two maternal genomes. RESULTS We compared genome-wide methylation patterns of sexually-produced, diploid embryos laid by a queen, with parthenogenetically-produced diploid embryos laid by her daughters. Thelytokous embryos inheriting two maternal genomes had fewer hypermethylated genes compared to fertilized embryos, supporting the prediction that fertilized embryos have increased methylation due to inheritance of a paternal genome. However, bisulfite PCR and sequencing of a differentially methylated gene, Stan (GB18207) showed strong allele-specific methylation that was maintained in both fertilized and thelytokous embryos. For this gene, methylation was associated with haplotype, not parent of origin. CONCLUSIONS The results of our study are consistent with predictions from the kin theory of genomic imprinting. However, our demonstration of allele-specific methylation based on sequence shows that genome-wide differential methylation studies can potentially confound imprinting and allele-specific methylation. It further suggests that methylation patterns are heritable or that specific sequence motifs are targets for methylation in some genes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily J. Remnant
- />Behavior and Genetics of Social Insects Laboratory, School of Life and Environmental Sciences A12, University of Sydney, Room 248, Macleay Building (A12), Sydney, NSW 2006 Australia
| | - Alyson Ashe
- />School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006 Australia
| | - Paul E. Young
- />Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute, Lowy Packer Building, 405 Liverpool Street, Darlinghurst, NSW 2010 Australia
- />University of New South Wales, Kensington, NSW 2033 Australia
| | - Gabriele Buchmann
- />Behavior and Genetics of Social Insects Laboratory, School of Life and Environmental Sciences A12, University of Sydney, Room 248, Macleay Building (A12), Sydney, NSW 2006 Australia
| | - Madeleine Beekman
- />Behavior and Genetics of Social Insects Laboratory, School of Life and Environmental Sciences A12, University of Sydney, Room 248, Macleay Building (A12), Sydney, NSW 2006 Australia
| | - Michael H. Allsopp
- />Honey Bee Research Section, ARC-Plant Protection Research Institute, Private Bag X5017, Stellenbosch, South Africa
| | - Catherine M. Suter
- />Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute, Lowy Packer Building, 405 Liverpool Street, Darlinghurst, NSW 2010 Australia
- />University of New South Wales, Kensington, NSW 2033 Australia
| | - Robert A. Drewell
- />Biology Department, Clark University, 950 Main Street, Worcester, MA 01610 USA
| | - Benjamin P. Oldroyd
- />Behavior and Genetics of Social Insects Laboratory, School of Life and Environmental Sciences A12, University of Sydney, Room 248, Macleay Building (A12), Sydney, NSW 2006 Australia
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Abstract
Farming is done not only by humans, but also by some ant, beetle and termite species. With the discovery of a stingless bee farming a fungus that provides benefits to its larvae, bees can be added to this list.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin P Oldroyd
- Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Lab, School of Biological Sciences A12, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.
| | - Duur K Aanen
- Laboratory of Genetics, Wageningen University, PO Boz 309, 6700 AH Wageningen, The Netherlands
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Tan K, Wang Y, Dong S, Liu X, Zhuang D, Chen W, Oldroyd BP. Associations between reproduction and work in workers of the Asian hive bee Apis cerana. J Insect Physiol 2015; 82:33-37. [PMID: 26276684 DOI: 10.1016/j.jinsphys.2015.08.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/07/2015] [Revised: 08/07/2015] [Accepted: 08/09/2015] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
If a honey bee (Apis spp.) colony becomes queenless, about 1/3 of young workers activate their ovaries and produce haploid male-producing eggs. In doing so queenless workers maximize their inclusive fitness because the normal option of vicarious production of relatives via their queen's eggs is no longer available. But if many workers are engaged in reproduction, how does a queenless colony continue to feed its brood and forage? Here we show that in the Asian hive bee Apis cerana hypopharyngeal gland (HPG) size is larger in queenless workers than in queenright workers and that bees undertaking brood-rearing tasks have larger HPG than same-aged bees that are foraging. In queenless colonies, workers with a smaller number of ovarioles are more likely to have activated ovaries. This reinforces the puzzling observation that a large number of ovarioles reduces reproductive success in queenless A. cerana. It further suggests that reproductive workers either avoid foraging or transition to foraging later in life than non-reproductive workers. Finally, our study also showed that ovary activation and larger-than-average numbers of ovarioles had no statistically detectable influence on foraging specialization for pollen or nectar.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ken Tan
- Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Science, Kunming, Yunnan Province 650223, China; Eastern Bee Research Institute of Yunnan Agricultural University, Heilongtan, Kunming, Yunnan Province 650201, China.
| | - Yuchong Wang
- Eastern Bee Research Institute of Yunnan Agricultural University, Heilongtan, Kunming, Yunnan Province 650201, China
| | - Shihai Dong
- Eastern Bee Research Institute of Yunnan Agricultural University, Heilongtan, Kunming, Yunnan Province 650201, China.
| | - Xiwen Liu
- Eastern Bee Research Institute of Yunnan Agricultural University, Heilongtan, Kunming, Yunnan Province 650201, China.
| | - Di Zhuang
- Eastern Bee Research Institute of Yunnan Agricultural University, Heilongtan, Kunming, Yunnan Province 650201, China.
| | - Weiwen Chen
- Eastern Bee Research Institute of Yunnan Agricultural University, Heilongtan, Kunming, Yunnan Province 650201, China.
| | - Benjamin P Oldroyd
- Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Laboratory, School of Biological Sciences A12, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
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Ronai I, Barton DA, Oldroyd BP, Vergoz V. Regulation of oogenesis in honey bee workers via programed cell death. J Insect Physiol 2015; 81:36-41. [PMID: 26119324 DOI: 10.1016/j.jinsphys.2015.06.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/14/2015] [Revised: 06/23/2015] [Accepted: 06/24/2015] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
Reproductive division of labour characterises eusociality. Currently little is known about the mechanisms that underlie the 'sterility' of the worker caste, but queen pheromone plays a major role in regulating the reproductive state. Here we investigate oogenesis in the young adult honey bee worker ovary in the presence of queen pheromone and in its absence. When queen pheromone is absent, workers can activate their ovaries and have well-developed follicles. When queen pheromone is present, even though workers have non-activated ovaries, they continually produce oocytes which are aborted at an early stage. Therefore, irrespective of the presence of the queen, the young adult worker ovary contains oocytes. By this means young workers retain reproductive plasticity. The degeneration of the germ cells in the ovarioles of workers in the presence of queen pheromone has the morphological hallmarks of programmed cell death. Therefore the mechanistic basis of 'worker sterility' relies in part on the regulation of oogenesis via programmed cell death. Our results suggest that honey bees have co-opted a highly conserved checkpoint at mid-oogenesis to regulate the fertility of the worker caste.
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Affiliation(s)
- Isobel Ronai
- School of Biological Sciences, Macleay Building A12, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.
| | - Deborah A Barton
- School of Biological Sciences, Macleay Building A12, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Benjamin P Oldroyd
- School of Biological Sciences, Macleay Building A12, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Vanina Vergoz
- School of Biological Sciences, Macleay Building A12, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
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Ronai I, Oldroyd BP, Barton DA, Cabanes G, Lim J, Vergoz V. AnarchyIs a Molecular Signature of Worker Sterility in the Honey Bee. Mol Biol Evol 2015; 33:134-42. [DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msv202] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
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Manfredini F, Brown MJF, Vergoz V, Oldroyd BP. RNA-sequencing elucidates the regulation of behavioural transitions associated with the mating process in honey bee queens. BMC Genomics 2015; 16:563. [PMID: 26227994 PMCID: PMC4521450 DOI: 10.1186/s12864-015-1750-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2015] [Accepted: 07/04/2015] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Mating is a complex process, which is frequently associated with behavioural and physiological changes. However, understanding of the genetic underpinnings of these changes is limited. Honey bees are both a model system in behavioural genomics, and the dominant managed pollinator of human crops; consequently understanding the mating process has both pure and applied value. We used next-generation transcriptomics to probe changes in gene expression in the brains of honey bee queens, as they transition from virgin to mated reproductive status. In addition, we used CO2-narcosis, which induces oviposition without mating, to isolate the process of reproductive maturation. Results The mating process produced significant changes in the expression of vision, chemo-reception, metabolic, and immune-related genes. Differential expression of these genes maps clearly onto known behavioural and physiological changes that occur during the transition from being a virgin queen to a newly-mated queen. A subset of these changes in gene expression were also detected in CO2-treated queens, as predicted from previous physiological studies. In addition, we compared our results to previous studies that used microarray techniques across a range of experimental time-points. Changes in expression of immune- and vision-related genes were common to all studies, supporting an involvement of these groups of genes in the mating process. Conclusions Our study is an important step in understanding the molecular mechanisms regulating post-mating behavioural transitions in a natural system. The weak overlap in patterns of gene expression with previous studies demonstrates the high sensitivity of genome-wide approaches. Thus, while we build on previous microarray studies that explored post-mating changes in honey bees, the broader experimental design, use of RNA-sequencing, and focus on Australian honey bees, which remain free from the devastating parasite Varroa destructor, in the current study, provide unique insights into the biology of the mating process in honey bees. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12864-015-1750-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fabio Manfredini
- School of Biological Sciences, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, TW20 0EX, UK.
| | - Mark J F Brown
- School of Biological Sciences, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, TW20 0EX, UK.
| | - Vanina Vergoz
- Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Laboratory, School of Biological Sciences A12, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.
| | - Benjamin P Oldroyd
- Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Laboratory, School of Biological Sciences A12, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.
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Chapman NC, Harpur BA, Lim J, Rinderer TE, Allsopp MH, Zayed A, Oldroyd BP. A SNP test to identify Africanized honeybees via proportion of 'African' ancestry. Mol Ecol Resour 2015; 15:1346-55. [PMID: 25846634 DOI: 10.1111/1755-0998.12411] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2014] [Revised: 03/26/2015] [Accepted: 03/31/2015] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
The honeybee, Apis mellifera, is the world's most important pollinator and is ubiquitous in most agricultural ecosystems. Four major evolutionary lineages and at least 24 subspecies are recognized. Commercial populations are mainly derived from subspecies originating in Europe (75-95%). The Africanized honeybee is a New World hybrid of A. m. scutellata from Africa and European subspecies, with the African component making up 50-90% of the genome. Africanized honeybees are considered undesirable for bee-keeping in most countries, due to their extreme defensiveness and poor honey production. The international trade in honeybees is restricted, due in part to bans on the importation of queens (and semen) from countries where Africanized honeybees are extant. Some desirable strains from the United States of America that have been bred for traits such as resistance to the mite Varroa destructor are unfortunately excluded from export to countries such as Australia due to the presence of Africanized honeybees in the USA. This study shows that a panel of 95 single nucleotide polymorphisms, chosen to differentiate between the African, Eastern European and Western European lineages, can detect Africanized honeybees with a high degree of confidence via ancestry assignment. Our panel therefore offers a valuable tool to mitigate the risks of spreading Africanized honeybees across the globe and may enable the resumption of queen and bee semen imports from the Americas.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nadine C Chapman
- Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Lab, School of Biological Sciences A12, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia
| | - Brock A Harpur
- Department of Biology, York University, 4700 Keele Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M3J 1P3
| | - Julianne Lim
- Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Lab, School of Biological Sciences A12, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia
| | - Thomas E Rinderer
- Honey-bee Breeding Genetics and Physiology Research Laboratory, USDA-ARS, 1157 Ben Hur Road, Baton Rouge, LA, 70820, USA
| | - Michael H Allsopp
- ARC-Plant Protection Research Institute, Stellenbosch, 7599, South Africa
| | - Amro Zayed
- Department of Biology, York University, 4700 Keele Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M3J 1P3
| | - Benjamin P Oldroyd
- Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Lab, School of Biological Sciences A12, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia
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Wongsiri S, Lekprayoon C, Thapa R, Thirakupt K, Rinderer TE, Sylvester HA, Oldroyd BP, Booncham U. Comparative biology ofApis andreniformisandApis floreain Thailand. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2015. [DOI: 10.1080/0005772x.1997.11099328] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
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Tan K, Liu X, Dong S, Wang C, Oldroyd BP. Pheromones affecting ovary activation and ovariole loss in the Asian honey bee Apis cerana. J Insect Physiol 2015; 74:25-29. [PMID: 25614964 DOI: 10.1016/j.jinsphys.2015.01.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2014] [Revised: 01/09/2015] [Accepted: 01/12/2015] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
The Asian hive bee Apis cerana has similar queen mandibular pheromones (QMP) to the Western honey bee Apismellifera. However the effects of individual QMP components have never been tested to determine their effects on the reproductive physiology of A. cerana workers. We fed one queen equivalent of each of the major components of A. cerana QMP to groups of c.a. 500 day-old, caged, workers twice a day until the workers were 10 days old. Half of the cages were also provided with 10% royal jelly in the food. Workers were sampled each day and dissected to determine the number of ovarioles and the degree of ovary activation (egg development). In cages treated with 9-carbon fatty acids ovary activation was minimal, whereas the 10-carbon acids suppressed ovary activation very little. Royal jelly enhanced ovary activation, especially in cages treated with 10-carbon acids. The number of ovarioles declined with bee age, but the rate of decline was slowed by the 9-carbon acids in particular. The results show conservation of the composition and function of QMP between A. cerana and A. mellifera and support the hypothesis that QMP is an honest signal of queen fecundity rather than a chemical castrator of workers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ken Tan
- Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Science, Kunming, Yunnan Province 650223, China; Eastern Bee Research Institute of Yunnan Agricultural University, Heilongtan, Kunming, Yunnan Province 650201, China.
| | - Xiwen Liu
- Eastern Bee Research Institute of Yunnan Agricultural University, Heilongtan, Kunming, Yunnan Province 650201, China.
| | - Sihao Dong
- Eastern Bee Research Institute of Yunnan Agricultural University, Heilongtan, Kunming, Yunnan Province 650201, China.
| | - Chao Wang
- Eastern Bee Research Institute of Yunnan Agricultural University, Heilongtan, Kunming, Yunnan Province 650201, China.
| | - Benjamin P Oldroyd
- Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Laboratory, School of Biological Sciences A12, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.
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Chapman NC, Beekman M, Allsopp MH, Rinderer TE, Lim J, Oxley PR, Oldroyd BP. Inheritance of thelytoky in the honey bee Apis mellifera capensis. Heredity (Edinb) 2015; 114:584-92. [PMID: 25585920 DOI: 10.1038/hdy.2014.127] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2014] [Revised: 11/27/2014] [Accepted: 12/03/2014] [Indexed: 01/31/2023] Open
Abstract
Asexual reproduction via thelytokous parthenogenesis is widespread in the Hymenoptera, but its genetic underpinnings have been described only twice. In the wasp Lysiphlebus fabarum and the Cape honey bee Apis mellifera capensis the origin of thelytoky have each been traced to a single recessive locus. In the Cape honey bee it has been argued that thelytoky (th) controls the thelytoky phenotype and that a deletion of 9 bp in the flanking intron downstream of exon 5 (tae) of the gemini gene switches parthenogenesis from arrhenotoky to thelytoky. To further explore the mode of inheritance of thelytoky, we generated reciprocal backcrosses between thelytokous A. m. capensis and the arrhenotokous A. m. scutellata. Ten genetic markers were used to identify 108 thelytokously produced offspring and 225 arrhenotokously produced offspring from 14 colonies. Patterns of appearance of thelytokous parthenogenesis were inconsistent with a single locus, either th or tae, controlling thelytoky. We further show that the 9 bp deletion is present in the arrhenotokous A. m. scutellata population in South Africa, in A. m. intermissa in Morocco and in Africanized bees from Brazil and Texas, USA, where thelytoky has not been reported. Thus the 9 p deletion cannot be the cause of thelytoky. Further, we found two novel tae alleles. One contains the previously described 9 bp deletion and an additional deletion of 7 bp nearby. The second carries a single base insertion with respect to the wild type. Our data are consistent with the putative th locus increasing reproductive capacity.
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Affiliation(s)
- N C Chapman
- Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Lab, School of Biological Sciences A12, University of Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - M Beekman
- Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Lab, School of Biological Sciences A12, University of Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - M H Allsopp
- ARC-Plant Protection Research Institute, Stellenbosch, South Africa
| | - T E Rinderer
- Honey Bee Breeding, Genetics and Physiology Research Laboratory, USDA-ARS, Baton Rouge, LA, USA
| | - J Lim
- Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Lab, School of Biological Sciences A12, University of Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - P R Oxley
- Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Lab, School of Biological Sciences A12, University of Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - B P Oldroyd
- Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Lab, School of Biological Sciences A12, University of Sydney, NSW, Australia
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48
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Nunes TM, Mateus S, Favaris AP, Amaral MFZJ, von Zuben LG, Clososki GC, Bento JMS, Oldroyd BP, Silva R, Zucchi R, Silva DB, Lopes NP. Queen signals in a stingless bee: suppression of worker ovary activation and spatial distribution of active compounds. Sci Rep 2014; 4:7449. [PMID: 25502598 PMCID: PMC4264003 DOI: 10.1038/srep07449] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2014] [Accepted: 11/18/2014] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
In most species of social insect the queen signals her presence to her workers via pheromones. Worker responses to queen pheromones include retinue formation around the queen, inhibition of queen cell production and suppression of worker ovary activation. Here we show that the queen signal of the Brazilian stingless bee Friesella schrottkyi is a mixture of cuticular hydrocarbons. Stingless bees are therefore similar to ants, wasps and bumble bees, but differ from honey bees in which the queen's signal mostly comprises volatile compounds originating from the mandibular glands. This shows that cuticular hydrocarbons have independently evolved as the queen's signal across multiple taxa, and that the honey bees are exceptional. We also report the distribution of four active queen-signal compounds by Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) imaging. The results indicate a relationship between the behavior of workers towards the queen and the likely site of secretion of the queen's pheromones.
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Affiliation(s)
- Túlio M Nunes
- 1] NPPNS, Departamento de Física e Química, FCFRP, Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil [2] Departamento de Biologia, FFCLRP, Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Sidnei Mateus
- Departamento de Biologia, FFCLRP, Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Arodi P Favaris
- Departamento de Entomologia e Acarologia, ESALQ, Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Mônica F Z J Amaral
- NPPNS, Departamento de Física e Química, FCFRP, Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil
| | | | - Giuliano C Clososki
- NPPNS, Departamento de Física e Química, FCFRP, Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil
| | - José M S Bento
- Departamento de Entomologia e Acarologia, ESALQ, Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Benjamin P Oldroyd
- School of Biological Sciences A12, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Ricardo Silva
- NPPNS, Departamento de Física e Química, FCFRP, Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Ronaldo Zucchi
- Departamento de Biologia, FFCLRP, Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Denise B Silva
- NPPNS, Departamento de Física e Química, FCFRP, Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Norberto P Lopes
- NPPNS, Departamento de Física e Química, FCFRP, Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil
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Tan K, Dong S, Liu X, Chen W, Wang Y, Oldroyd BP, Latty T. Phantom alternatives influence food preferences in the eastern honeybee Apis cerana. J Anim Ecol 2014; 84:509-17. [PMID: 25251672 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.12288] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/06/2014] [Accepted: 09/02/2014] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Most models of animal choice behaviour assume that desirable but unavailable options, such as a high quality, but inhabited nest sites, do not influence an individual's preferences for the remaining options. However, experiments suggest that in mammals, the mere presence of such 'phantom' alternatives can alter, and even reverse, an individual's preferences for other items in a choice set. Phantom alternatives may be widespread in nature, as they occur whenever a resource is visible, but unavailable at the time of choice. They are particularly relevant for nectar-foraging animals, where previously rewarding flowers may sometimes be empty. Here, we investigate the effect of phantom alternatives on feeder preferences in the eastern honeybee, Apis cerana. First, we tested the effects of unattractive and attractive phantom alternatives by presenting individual bees with either a binary choice set containing two feeders that differed strongly in two qualities, but were equally preferred overall ('option 1' and 'option 2'), or a ternary choice set containing option 1, option 2 and one of two phantom types (unattractive and attractive). Secondly, we determined whether phantoms increase (similarity effect) or decrease (dissimilarity effect) preference for phantom-similar choices. In binary trials, bees had no significant preference for option 1 or option 2. However, after encountering an attractive phantom alternative, individual bees preferred option 2. The unattractive phantom did not influence bee preferences. Phantoms consistently changed individual bee preferences in favour of the phantom-similar choice. This means that the presence of an attractive food source, even if it is unavailable, can influence preference relationships between remaining items in the choice set. Our findings highlight the importance of considering the potential for phantom effects when studying the foraging behaviour of animals. Our results are particularly relevant for nectarivores, where empty but previously rewarding flowers are a common occurrence. Since an increase in pollinator visits can result in higher seed set, our results open up the possibility that by shifting pollinator preferences, empty flowers could have otherwise-unpredicted influences on community composition, plant-pollinator interactions and pollinator behaviour.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ken Tan
- Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xufu Road 88, Kunming, 650223, Yunnan Province, China
| | - Shihao Dong
- Eastern Bee Research Institute, Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming, 650201, China
| | - Xiwen Liu
- Eastern Bee Research Institute, Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming, 650201, China
| | - Weiweng Chen
- Eastern Bee Research Institute, Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming, 650201, China
| | - Yuchong Wang
- Eastern Bee Research Institute, Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming, 650201, China
| | - Benjamin P Oldroyd
- Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Laboratory, School of Biological Sciences A12, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia
| | - Tanya Latty
- Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Laboratory, School of Biological Sciences A12, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia.,Centre for Mathematical Biology, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia
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50
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Drewell RA, Bush EC, Remnant EJ, Wong GT, Beeler SM, Stringham JL, Lim J, Oldroyd BP. The dynamic DNA methylation cycle from egg to sperm in the honey bee Apis mellifera. Development 2014; 141:2702-11. [PMID: 24924193 PMCID: PMC4067964 DOI: 10.1242/dev.110163] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
In honey bees (Apis mellifera), the epigenetic mark of DNA methylation is central to the developmental regulation of caste differentiation, but may also be involved in additional biological functions. In this study, we examine the whole genome methylation profiles of three stages of the haploid honey bee genome: unfertilised eggs, the adult drones that develop from these eggs and the sperm produced by these drones. These methylomes reveal distinct patterns of methylation. Eggs and sperm show 381 genes with significantly different CpG methylation patterns, with the vast majority being more methylated in eggs. Adult drones show greatly reduced levels of methylation across the genome when compared with both gamete samples. This suggests a dynamic cycle of methylation loss and gain through the development of the drone and during spermatogenesis. Although fluxes in methylation during embryogenesis may account for some of the differentially methylated sites, the distinct methylation patterns at some genes suggest parent-specific epigenetic marking in the gametes. Extensive germ line methylation of some genes possibly explains the lower-than-expected frequency of CpG sites in these genes. We discuss the potential developmental and evolutionary implications of methylation in eggs and sperm in this eusocial insect species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert A Drewell
- Biology Department, Harvey Mudd College, 301 Platt Boulevard, Claremont, CA 91711, USA Department of Biological Sciences, Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA 01075, USA Department of Biology, Amherst College, Amherst, MA 01002, USA
| | - Eliot C Bush
- Biology Department, Harvey Mudd College, 301 Platt Boulevard, Claremont, CA 91711, USA
| | - Emily J Remnant
- Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Laboratory, School of Biological Sciences A12, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Garrett T Wong
- Biology Department, Harvey Mudd College, 301 Platt Boulevard, Claremont, CA 91711, USA
| | - Suzannah M Beeler
- Biology Department, Harvey Mudd College, 301 Platt Boulevard, Claremont, CA 91711, USA
| | - Jessica L Stringham
- Computer Science Department, Harvey Mudd College, 301 Platt Boulevard, Claremont, CA 91711, USA
| | - Julianne Lim
- Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Laboratory, School of Biological Sciences A12, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Benjamin P Oldroyd
- Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Laboratory, School of Biological Sciences A12, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
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