Drosophila melanogaster and worker honeybees (Apis mellifera) do not require olfaction to be susceptible to honeybee queen mandibular pheromone

Abstract

This is a repository copy of Drosophila melanogaster and worker honeybees (Apis mellifera) do not require olfaction to be susceptible to honeybee queen mandibular pheromone.

Honeybee queen mandibular pheromone induces a starvation response in Drosophila melanogaster

“…Consistent with previous studies (Camiletti et al, 2013;Lovegrove et al, 2019Lovegrove et al, , 2020 treatment with QMP causes a significant reduction in the number of mature oocytes after 48 h (AOD χ 2 = 17.689, df = 2, p = 0.1441 × 10 − 3 ) (Fig. 1A) consistent with the reduction in the number of mature oocytes seen in response to starvation (Fig.…”

“…QMP may act on flies by reducing their ability to take up nutrients from food. QMP doesn't require the antenna or maxillary palps to have its action in Drosophila (Lovegrove et al, 2020), so QMP may act directly on the gut; blocking nutrition uptake. However, starved flies, with reduced nutrition uptake, increase the expression of Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase 1 (Pepck1) (Fig.…”

Environmentally responsive reproduction: neuroendocrine signalling and the evolution of eusociality

“…Honeybee QMP differs considerably in terms of chemical composition [78] ( Figure 2 b) from the queen pheromones of other hymenopterans, which are primarily nonvolatile saturated hydrocarbons [73] . However, despite decades of research, it is not yet clear how QMP is detected by worker honeybees ( Figure 2 b), although it is seemingly independent of olfaction [79] . QMP exposure affects brain dopamine levels, possibly through one of the specific components, homovanillyl alcohol [80] and high levels of dopamine are associated with reproduction in workers (reviewed in 72 , 81 , 82 ).…”