Differential gene expression in queen–worker caste determination in bumble-bees
- Pereboom, Jeffrey J. M Centre for Research & Conservation, Royal Zoological Society of Antwerp, Koningin Astridplein 26, 2018 Antwerpen, Belgium
- Jordan, William C Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, Regent's Park, London NW1 4RY, UK
- Sumner, Seirian Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, Regent's Park, London NW1 4RY, UK
- Hammond, Robert L Department of Ecology and Evolution, Université de Lausanne, Dorigny 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
- Bourke, Andrew F. G Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, Regent's Park, London NW1 4RY, UK
- 2005-6
Published in:
- Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. - The Royal Society. - 2005, vol. 272, no. 1568, p. 1145-1152
General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
General Immunology and Microbiology
General Agricultural and Biological Sciences
General Environmental Science
General Medicine
English
Investigating how differential gene expression underlies caste determination in the social Hymenoptera is central to understanding how variation in gene expression underlies adaptive phenotypic diversity. We investigated for the first time the association between differential gene expression and queen–worker caste determination in the bumble-bee
Bombus terrestris
. Using suppression subtractive hybridization we isolated 12 genes that were differentially expressed in queen- and worker-destined larvae. We found that the sets of genes underlying caste differences in larvae and adults failed to overlap greatly. We also found that
B. terrestris
shares some of the genes whose differential expression is associated with caste determination in the honeybee,
Apis mellifera
, but their expression patterns were not identical. Instead, we found
B. terrestris
to exhibit a novel pattern, whereby most genes upregulated (i.e. showing relatively higher levels of expression) in queen-destined larvae early in development were upregulated in worker-destined larvae late in development. Overall, our results suggest that caste determination in
B. terrestris
involves a difference not so much in the identity of genes expressed by queen- and worker-destined larvae, but primarily in the relative timing of their expression. This conclusion is of potential importance in the further study of phenotypic diversification via differential gene expression.
Investigating how differential gene expression underlies caste determination in the social Hymenoptera is central to understanding how variation in gene expression underlies adaptive phenotypic diversity. We investigated for the first time the association between differential gene expression and queen–worker caste determination in the bumble-bee
. Using suppression subtractive hybridization we isolated 12 genes that were differentially expressed in queen- and worker-destined larvae. We found that the sets of genes underlying caste differences in larvae and adults failed to overlap greatly. We also found that
shares some of the genes whose differential expression is associated with caste determination in the honeybee,
, but their expression patterns were not identical. Instead, we found
to exhibit a novel pattern, whereby most genes upregulated (i.e. showing relatively higher levels of expression) in queen-destined larvae early in development were upregulated in worker-destined larvae late in development. Overall, our results suggest that caste determination in
involves a difference not so much in the identity of genes expressed by queen- and worker-destined larvae, but primarily in the relative timing of their expression. This conclusion is of potential importance in the further study of phenotypic diversification via differential gene expression.
- Language
-
- English
- Open access status
- green
- Identifiers
-
- DOI 10.1098/rspb.2005.3060
- ISSN 0962-8452
- Persistent URL
- https://folia.unifr.ch/global/documents/46391
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