To identify and compare venom components and expression patterns, venom gland-specific transcriptome analyses were conducted for 14 Aculeate bees and wasps. TPM (transcripts per kilobase million) values were normalized using the average transcription level of a reference housekeeping gene (dimethyladenosine transferase). Orthologous venom component genes across the 14 bee and wasp species were identified, and their relative abundance in each species was determined by comparing normalized TPM values. Based on signal sequences in the transcripts, the genes of novel venom components were identified and characterized to encode potential allergens. Most of the allergens and pain-producing factors (arginine kinase, hyaluronidase, mastoparan, phospholipase A1, phospholipase A2, and venom allergen 5) showed extremely high expression levels in social wasps. Acid phosphatase, neprilysin, and tachykinin, which are known allergens and neurotoxic peptides, were found in the venom glands of solitary wasps more often than in social wasps. In the venom glands of bumblebees, few or no transcripts of major allergens or pain-producing factors were identified. Taken together, these results indicate that differential expression patterns of the venom genes in some Aculeate species imply that some wasps and bumblebee species have unique groups of highly expressed venom components. Some venom components reflected the Aculeate species phylogeny, but others did not. This unique evolution of specific venom components in different groups of some wasps and bumblebee species might have been shaped in response to both ecological and behavioral influences.
Acetylcholinesterase 1 (AmAChE1) of the honey bee, Apis mellifera, has been suggested to have non-neuronal functions. A systematic expression profiling of AmAChE1 over a year-long cycle on a monthly basis revealed that AmAChE1 was predominantly expressed in both head and abdomen during the winter months and was moderately expressed during the rainy summer months. Interestingly, AmAChE1 expression was inhibited when bees were stimulated for brood rearing by placing overwintering beehives in strawberry greenhouses with a pollen diet, whereas it resumed when the beehives were moved back to the cold field, thereby suppressing brood rearing. In early spring, pollen diet supplementation accelerated the induction of brood-rearing activity and the inhibition of AmAChE1 expression. When active beehives were placed in a screen tent in late spring, thereby artificially suppressing brood-rearing activity, AmAChE1 was highly expressed. In contrast, AmAChE1 expression was inhibited when beehives were allowed to restore brood rearing by removing the screen, supporting the hypothesis that brood rearing status is a main factor in the regulation of AmAChE1 expression. Since brood rearing status is influenced by various stress factors, including temperature and diet shortage, our finding discreetly suggests that AmAChE1 is likely involved in the stress response or stress management.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.