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| Author(s): |
Carlos Henrique Lobo
Total Authors: 1
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| Document type: | Doctoral Thesis |
| Press: | Ribeirão Preto. |
| Institution: | Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto (PCARP/BC) |
| Defense date: | 2009-04-02 |
| Examining board members: |
Zila Luz Paulino Simoes;
Carlos Alberto Garofalo;
Fabio Santos do Nascimento;
Marcelo Valle de Sousa;
Ronaldo Zucchi
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| Advisor: | Zila Luz Paulino Simoes |
| Abstract | |
Age-dependent change in functions in division of labor is a characteristic trait in colonies of the honey bees, Apis mellifera L. Life expectancy of a worker bee is about 30-40 days. One of the physiological changes related to aging in workers is the atrophy of the hypopharyngeal gland (HG). The secretory cycle of the HG is closely related to the role as a nurse, played by workers when they are between 5 to 20 days old. In foragers, these glands regress and apparently pass to a post-secretory state. Thus, this gland is an experimental model for the study of division of labor and aging. This study aimed to study differential gene expression in HGs in two distinct phases of adult life. Candidate genes coming out of these screens were then used to investigate the link between gland function and behavior in worker kept as single-cohort colony. For this purpose, different techniques were used, such as: Suppression Substractive Hybridization (RDA), Real Time PCR, and Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry (GC/MS). In the RDA analyses of HGs from nurses and foragers workers we identified four differentially expressed genes: buffy, alpha-glucosidase, amylase proximal and major royal jelly-4. The analysis of their expression in samples of single-cohort workers showed that buffy is higher expressed in nurses, whereas the others had higher transcript levels in foragers. We also studied the expression of the stress-related superoxide dismutase gene, which turned out to be more expressed in foragers, and of the gene coding for vitellogenin, for which we found no difference in expression between the two life stages. These results extend our knowledge on differential gene expression in honey bees, especially for the HGs, adding new candidates to the list of markers of aging. The composition of cephalic cuticular hydrocarbons was investigated by GC/MS. It consisted of alkanes, alkenes, alkadienes and branched alkanes, ranging between 21 and 35 carbon atoms. The profile of foragers was mainly represented by alkanes, while the nurses had more alkenes, showing that the cephalic cuticular hydrocarbon profile in A. mellifera workers is dynamically linked to behavior rather than age. These results lend support to the idea that worker-worker interaction can influence the rate of behavioral development through chemical communication. (AU) | |