Reproduction of honeybee workers is regulated by epidermal growth factor receptor signaling

被引：19

作者：

Formesyn, Ellen M. ^{[1
]}

Cardoen, Dries ^{[2
]}

Ernst, Ulrich R. ^{[3
]}

Danneels, Ellen L. ^{[1
]}

Van Vaerenbergh, Matthias ^{[1
]}

De Koker, Dieter ^{[1
]}

Verleyen, Peter ^{[3
]}

Wenseleers, Tom ^{[2
]}

Schoofs, Liliane ^{[3
]}

de Graaf, Dirk C. ^{[1
]}

机构：

[1] Univ Ghent, Lab Zoophysiol, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium

[2] Katholieke Univ Leuven, Laboratoty Socioecol & Social Evolut, B-3000 Louvain, Belgium

[3] Katholieke Univ Leuven, Res Grp Funct Genom & Prote, B-3000 Louvain, Belgium

来源：

GENERAL AND COMPARATIVE ENDOCRINOLOGY | 2014年 / 197卷

关键词：

Reproductive division; Epidermal growth factor receptor; Fertility; Hymenoptera; Honeybee; Apis mellifera; GENOME-WIDE ANALYSIS; APIS-MELLIFERA; CASTE DEVELOPMENT; OVARY ACTIVATION; QUEEN PHEROMONES; GENE-EXPRESSION; BEE; STERILITY; DIFFERENTIATION; PLASTICITY;

D O I：

10.1016/j.ygcen.2013.12.001

中图分类号：

R5 [内科学];

学科分类号：

1002 ; 100201 ;

摘要：

Eusocial insect societies display a remarkable reproductive division of labor between a single fertile queen and thousands of largely sterile workers. In most species, however, the workers retain the capacity to reproduce, particularly in queenless colonies where typically many workers lay eggs. As yet, the molecular determinants that initiate this shift in worker fertility are still poorly documented. By using RNA interference we here demonstrate that the knockdown of epidermal growth factor receptor, a gene which was previously shown to be involved in queen-worker caste differentiation, also induces reproduction in worker honeybees (Apis mellifera). These data show that worker fertility and queen-worker caste determination partly rely on the same gene regulatory networks, thereby providing a major breakthrough in our understanding of the molecular determinants of the social insects' spectacular reproductive division of labor. (C) 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

引用

页码：1 / 4

页数：4

共 35 条

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