A Comparative Study of the Endocrine System of the Honey Bee Larvae under Normal and Experimental Conditions

Dogra, G. S.; Ulrich, Gabriele M.; Rembold, Heinz

doi:10.1515/znc-1977-7-825

Cited by 31 publications

(11 citation statements)

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“…Nurse workers produce different larval diets through different mixtures of glandular secretions, crop contents and, in older worker larvae, pollen. Morphological changes in queen and worker larvae appear during the third day and instar when the size of the corpora allata of queen larvae increases more quickly than those of workers (Dogra et al ., 1977). Then, in queen larvae, both JH synthesis by the corpora allata in vitro and JH titres peak during the fourth day and instar in vivo (Rachinsky et al ., 1990; Rembold et al ., 1992).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Expression of insulin pathway genes during the period of caste determination in the honey bee,Apis mellifera

Wheeler

Buck

Evans³

2006

Insect Molecular Biology

672

166

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Female honeybees have two castes, queens and workers. Developmental fate is determined by larval diet. Coding sequences made available through the Honey Bee Genome Sequencing Consortium allow for a pathway-based approach to understanding caste determination. We examined the expression of several genes of the insulin signalling pathway, which is central to regulation of growth based on nutrition. We found one insulin-like peptide expressed at very high levels in queen but not worker larvae. Also, the gene for an insulin receptor was expressed at higher levels in queen larvae during the 2nd larval instar. These results demonstrate that the insulin pathway is a compelling candidate for pursing the relationship between diet and downstream signals involved in caste determination and differentiation.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Expression of insulin pathway genes during the period of caste determination in the honey bee,Apis mellifera

Wheeler

Buck

Evans³

2006

Insect Molecular Biology

672

166

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“…Furthermore, it induces a queen-specific JH peak in the early fifth (final) instar (Rembold, 1987; Rachinsky et al, 1990). These differences are presumably induced by accelerated growth in the CA in larvae fed royal jelly (Dogra et al, 1977), which stimulates higher rates of JH synthesis (Rachinsky and Hartfelder, 1990). Topical application of JH in larvae that are not fed royal jelly induces queen-like phenotypes (Wirtz, 1973; Nijhout and Wheeler, 1982).…”

Section: A Hypothesis For Regulating Organ Plasticitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Mechanisms regulating nutrition-dependent developmental plasticity through organ-specific effects in insects

Kaburagi¹,

Mendes²,

Mirth³

2013

Front. Physiol.

112

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Nutrition, via the insulin/insulin-like growth factor (IIS)/Target of Rapamycin (TOR) signaling pathway, can provide a strong molding force for determining animal size and shape. For instance, nutrition induces a disproportionate increase in the size of male horns in dung and rhinoceros beetles, or mandibles in staghorn or horned flour beetles, relative to body size. In these species, well-fed male larvae produce adults with greatly enlarged horns or mandibles, whereas males that are starved or poorly fed as larvae bear much more modest appendages. Changes in IIS/TOR signaling plays a key role in appendage development by regulating growth in the horn and mandible primordia. In contrast, changes in the IIS/TOR pathway produce minimal effects on the size of other adult structures, such as the male genitalia in fruit flies and dung beetles. The horn, mandible and genitalia illustrate that although all tissues are exposed to the same hormonal environment within the larval body, the extent to which insulin can induce growth is organ specific. In addition, the IIS/TOR pathway affects body size and shape by controlling production of metamorphic hormones important for regulating developmental timing, like the steroid molting hormone ecdysone and sesquiterpenoid hormone juvenile hormone. In this review, we discuss recent results from Drosophila and other insects that highlight mechanisms allowing tissues to differ in their sensitivity to IIS/TOR and the potential consequences of these differences on body size and shape.

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“…Honey bee queen larvae show much faster weight gains than worker larvae by the third instar of development, due primarily to enhanced feeding rates. By the end of the third instar, the corpora allata of queen-destined larvae become much enlarged relative to those of workers (8), and queen larvae begin to show substantially higher levels of the terpenoid juvenile hormone (9). The fourth larval instar (96 hours post-hatching) marks the divergence of two developmental pathways that were termed, classically, the worker and queen developmental caste programs (10).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Differential gene expression between developing queens and workers in the honey bee,Apismellifera

Evans

Wheeler

1999

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

280

200

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Many insects show polyphenisms, or alternative morphologies, which are based on differential gene expression rather than genetic polymorphism. Queens and workers are alternative forms of the adult female honey bee and represent one of the best known examples of insect polyphenism. Hormonal regulation of caste determination in honey bees has been studied in detail, but little is known about the proximate molecular mechanisms underlying this process, or any other such polyphenism. We report the success of a molecular-genetic approach for studying queen-and workerspecific gene expression in the development of the honey bee (Apis mellifera). Numerous genes appear to be differentially expressed between the two castes. Seven differentially expressed loci described here belong to at least five distinctly different evolutionary and functional groups. Two are particularly promising as potential regulators of caste differentiation. One is homologous to a widespread class of proteins that bind lipids and other hydrophobic ligands, including retinoic acid. The second locus shows sequence similarity to a DNAbinding domain in the Ets family of transcription factors. The remaining loci appear to be involved with downstream changes inherent to queen-or worker-specific developmental pathways. Caste determination in honey bees is typically thought of as primarily queen determination; our results make it clear that the process involves specific activation of genes in workers as well as in queens.

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A Comparative Study of the Endocrine System of the Honey Bee Larvae under Normal and Experimental Conditions

Cited by 31 publications

References 0 publications

Expression of insulin pathway genes during the period of caste determination in the honey bee,Apis mellifera

Expression of insulin pathway genes during the period of caste determination in the honey bee,Apis mellifera

Mechanisms regulating nutrition-dependent developmental plasticity through organ-specific effects in insects

Differential gene expression between developing queens and workers in the honey bee,Apismellifera

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