Morphological and transcriptomic analysis of the ovaries in the development of workers of the stingless bee Melipona quadrifasciata

• Grant number: 24/02856-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: April 01, 2024
• End date: March 31, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Zoology - Physiology of Recent Groups
• Principal Investigator: Flávia Cristina de Paula Freitas
• Grantee: Lucas Araújo Magri
• Host Institution: Centro de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde (CCBS). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 20/13719-7 - Genomic signatures of plasticity and diversity in the phenotypic development, AP.JP

Abstract

Bees from the Apini and Meliponini tribes are recognized for exhibiting eusocial behavior. Eusociality is characterized by the division of reproductive labor between the queen, the fertile female, and the worker, responsible for collecting water and food and feeding the offspring. Among eusocial bees, there is a variability in the reproductive capability of the workers. In Apis mellifera colonies, the presence of the queen inhibits the activation of the worker ovary due to the release of pheromones. In the case of the absence of the queen, however, the worker ovaries can be activated allowing them to produce haploid males. In contrast, in Melipona quadrifasciata colonies, workers keep their ovaries active, regardless of the presence of the queen. In Frieseomelitta varia, the ovaries remain inactive, following a distinct pattern, even in the absence of a queen. Given the diversity of reproductive strategies found among eusocial bees, this project aims to characterize the morphology and the transcriptome of M. quadrifasciata ovaries during larval and pupal development, with the aim of characterizing the formation of ovaries that remain active in the presence of a reproductive female, the queen. The transcriptome will elucidate the molecular basis of ovarian formation and will be used to recreate the regulatory network that governs the formation of this organ by grouping gene expression profiles and prospecting regulatory elements for transcription factors in the upstream region of target genes. This project is linked to the Jovem Pesquisador Grant (Process Number 2020/13719-7) whose aim is to compare the regulatory network of ovary formation in the species Apis mellifera, Frieseomelitta varia and Melipona quadrifasciata, that vary in terms of reproductive capacity.