Molecular basis of the disruption in the reproduction-longevity trade-off syndrome in the social insect model organism Apis mellifera

• Grant number: 17/09128-0
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: August 01, 2017
• End date: July 31, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Genetics - Animal Genetics
• Principal Investigator: Klaus Hartmann Hartfelder
• Grantee: Klaus Hartmann Hartfelder
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto (FMRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The paradigm of the trade-off between reproduction and longevity is broken in social insects, with their highly fertile and long-lived queens and sterile and short-lived workers. Its well-annotated genome and a complete epigenetic system make the species Apis mellifera a model organism for the understanding of mechanisms behind the breakdown of this paradigm. In this project we put the focus on two tissue types, the fat body and the ovaries. We will investigate parameters of the oxidative metabolism (mitochondrial activity, ROS, hypoxia response) in larval and adult bees. As a key metabolic enzyme we will pharmacologically manipulate AMPK activity and assess the effects at the transcriptome level. The role of DNA methylation will be investigated via expression analysis of the DNMTs encoding genes, followed by bisulfite sequencing of the corresponding tissues of adult bees. Questions concerning the differential fertility of queens and workers will be addressed through functional analyses of two genes, lncov1 and tudor, in the formation of the two caste-specific ovary phenotypes. Finally, from a more general perspective we will consider evolutionary aspects related to the exceptional ovary phenotypes of A. mellifera by comparative histological and molecular analyses of the testes of three species of social bees that differ in their reproductive systems. By combining such experimental approaches we expect to gain insights into critical points that may explain the breakdown of the reproduction-longevity paradigm in social insects. (AU)

Scientific publications

(4)

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

SANTOS, CAROLINA GONCALVES; HUMANN, FERNANDA CARVALHO; HARTFELDER, KLAUS. Juvenile hormone signaling in insect oogenesis. CURRENT OPINION IN INSECT SCIENCE, v. 31, p. 43-48, FEB 2019. (17/09128-0)

CARDOSO-JUNIOR, CARLOS A. M.; YAGOUND, BORIS; RONAI, ISOBEL; REMNANT, EMILY J.; HARTFELDER, KLAUS; OLDROYD, BENJAMIN P.. DNA methylation is not a driver of gene expression reprogramming in young honey bee workers. Molecular Ecology, v. 30, n. 19, AUG 2021. (16/15881-0, 17/09269-3, 17/09128-0)

LAGO, DENYSE C.; MARTINS, JULIANA R.; DALLACQUA, RODRIGO P.; SANTOS, DOUGLAS ELIAS; BITONDI, MARCIA M. G.; HARTFELDER, KLAUS. Testis development and spermatogenesis in drones of the honey bee, Apis mellifera L.. Apidologie, v. 51, n. 6, MAY 2020. (16/16622-9, 09/15772-3, 17/09128-0)

SANTOS, DOUGLAS ELIAS; SOUZA, ANDERSON DE OLIVEIRA; TIBERIO, GUSTAVO JACOMINI; ALBERICI, LUCIANE CARLA; HARTFELDER, KLAUS. Differential expression of antioxidant system genes in honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) caste development mitigates ROS-mediated oxidative damage in queen larvae. GENETICS AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY, v. 43, n. 4, 2020. (13/24733-7, 17/26418-2, 17/09128-0, 11/03171-5)