Intergenerational transfers may have decoupled physiological and chronological age in a eusocial insect

Amdam, Gro V.; Page, Robert E.

doi:10.1016/j.arr.2005.03.007

Cited by 83 publications

(85 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…64). Thus, the bee would exemplify (63) that, by social evolution (46,47,65), reproductive control circuits can be remodeled to extend life. However, this proposition rests on the assumption that the solitary ancestor of the honey bee was characterized by an antagonistic relationship between vitellogenin activity and longevity.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reproductive protein protects functionally sterile honey bee workers from oxidative stress

Seehuus

Norberg

Gimsa

et al. 2006

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

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Research on aging shows that regulatory pathways of fertility and senescence are closely interlinked. However, evolutionary theories on social species propose that lifelong care for offspring can shape the course of senescence beyond the restricted context of reproductive capability. These observations suggest that control circuits of aging are remodeled in social organisms with continuing care for offspring. Here, we studied a circuit of aging in the honey bee (Apis mellifera). The bee is characterized by the presence of a long-lived reproductive queen caste and a shorter-lived caste of female workers that are life-long alloparental care givers. We focus on the role of the conserved yolk precursor gene vitellogenin that, in Caenorhabditis elegans, shortens lifespan as a downstream element of the insulin͞insulin-like growth factor signaling cascade. Vitellogenin protein is synthesized at high levels in honey bee queens and is abundant in long-lived workers. We establish that vitellogenin gene activity protects worker bees from oxidative stress. Our finding suggests that one mechanistic explanation for patterns of longevity in bees is that a reproductive regulatory pathway has been remodeled to extend life. This perspective is of considerable relevance to research on longevity regulation that builds largely on inference from solitary model species.aging ͉ social evolution ͉ vitellogenin ͉ carbonylation ͉ RNA interference

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reproductive protein protects functionally sterile honey bee workers from oxidative stress

Seehuus

Norberg

Gimsa

et al. 2006

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

Self Cite

510

468

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…It is widely domesticated as a source of honey and beeswax and a well-known research system for understanding the characteristic differentiation of eusocial individuals into reproductive and sterile forms (Amdam et al, 2004a;Bloch et al, 2002;Robinson et al, 2005). The bee is an established model in systems theory (Mitchell, 2003;Page and Erber, 2002), behavioral ecology (Seeley, 1995), neurobiology (Farooqui et al, 2004;Humphries et al, 2003;Menzel, 1979;Scheiner et al, 2001), and aging (Amdam and Page, 2005;Omholt and Amdam, 2004;Seehuus et al, 2006). It has a rising position in molecular research that is fueled by an emerging availability of functional genomic tools Beye et al, 2002;Omholt et al, 1995;Yu et al, 1997) and a newly annotated genome sequence (www.hgsc.bcm.tmc.edu).…”

Section: Honeybee Societymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The adult workers differentiate into three temporal forms referred to as the "nurse bee," the "forager," and the "diutinus worker" stages, respectively (Amdam and Page, 2005). The nurse bee (Fig.…”

Section: A Differentiation Of Female Formsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Order, Disorder, Death: Lessons from a Superorganism

Amdam¹,

Seehuus²

2006

Advances in Cancer Research

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Animal models contribute to the understanding of molecular mechanism of cancer, revealing complex roles of altered cellular-signaling networks and deficient surveillance systems. Analogous pathologies are documented in an unconventional model organism that receives attention in research on systems theory, evolution, and aging. The honeybee (Apis mellifera) colony is an advanced integrative unit, a "superorganism" in which order is controlled via complex signaling cascades and surveillance schemes. A facultatively sterile caste, the workers, regulates patterns of growth, differentiation, homeostasis, and death. Workers differentiate into temporal phenotypes in response to dynamic social cues; chemosensory signals that can translate into dramatic physiological responses, including programmed cell death. Temporal worker forms function together, and effectively identify and terminate abnormal colony members ranging from embryos to adults. As long as this regulatory system is operational at a colony level, the unit survives and propagates. However, if the worker phenotypes that collectively govern order become too few or change into malignant forms that bypass control mechanisms to replicate aberrantly; order is replaced by disorder that ultimately leads to the destruction of the society. In this chapter we describe fundamental properties of honeybee social organization, and explore conditions that lead to states of disorder. Our hope is that this chapter will be an inspirational source for ongoing and future work in the field of cancer research.

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“…Recently, this eusocial insect caste has also started to contribute to our understanding of aging regulation (Omholt and Amdam, 2004;Amdam and Page, 2005;Amdam et al, 2005a). Worker bees display a flexible pattern of longevity that is interlinked with the alloparental tasks they perform (Amdam and Page, 2005). Typically, a worker engages in nest activities (such as nursing larvae), before she switches to more risky exterior hive activities like guarding and foraging as a 18-28-day-old (Winston, 1987).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cellular senescence in honey bee brain is largely independent of chronological age

Seehuus

Krekling

Amdam

2006

Experimental Gerontology

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Accumulation of oxidative stress-induced damage in brain tissue plays an important role in the pathogenesis of normal aging and neurodegenerative diseases. Neuronal oxidative damage typically increases with age in humans, and also in the invertebrate and vertebrate model species most commonly used in aging research. By use of quantitative immunohistochemistry and Western blot, we show that this aspect of brain senescence is largely decoupled from chronological age in the honey bee (Apis mellifera). The bee is a eusocial insect characterized by the presence of a reproductive queen caste and a caste of functionally sterile female workers that performs various alloparental tasks such as nursing and foraging. We studied patterns of oxidative nitration and carbonylation damage in the brain of worker bees that performed nurse tasks as 8-and 200-day-olds and foraging tasks as 20-and 200-day-olds. In addition, we examined 180-day-old diutinus bees, a stress-resistant temporal worker form that survives unfavorable periods. Our results indicate that nitration damage occurs only at low levels in vivo, but that a 60-kDa protein from honey bee brain is selectively nitrated by peroxynitrite in vitro. Oxidative carbonylation is present at varying levels in the visual and chemosensory neuropiles of worker bees, and this inter-individual variation is better explained by social role than by chronological age.

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Intergenerational transfers may have decoupled physiological and chronological age in a eusocial insect

Cited by 83 publications

References 42 publications

Reproductive protein protects functionally sterile honey bee workers from oxidative stress

Reproductive protein protects functionally sterile honey bee workers from oxidative stress

Order, Disorder, Death: Lessons from a Superorganism

Cellular senescence in honey bee brain is largely independent of chronological age

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