The gene vitellogenin affects microRNA regulation in honey bee (Apis mellifera) fat body and brain

Author(s)

Nunes, Francis M. F. ^{[1, 2]} ; Ihle, Kate E. ^{[3, 4]} ; Mutti, Navdeep S. ^[4] ; Simoes, Zila L. P. ^[1] ; Amdam, Gro V. ^{[4, 5]}

Affiliation

^[1] Univ Sao Paulo, Fac Filosofia Ciencias & Letras Ribeirao Preto, Dept Biol, Ribeirao Preto, SP - Brazil

^[2] Univ Sao Paulo, Fac Med Ribeirao Preto, Dept Genet, BR-14049 Ribeirao Preto, SP - Brazil

^[3] Smithsonian Trop Res Inst, Panama City - Panama

^[4] Arizona State Univ, Sch Life Sci, Tempe, AZ - USA

^[5] Norwegian Univ Life Sci, Dept Chem Biotechnol & Food Sci, As - Norway

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: Journal of Experimental Biology; v. 216, n. 19, p. 3724-3732, OCT 2013.
• Web of Science Citations: 28

Abstract

In honey bees, vitellogenin (Vg) is hypothesized to be a major factor affecting hormone signaling, food-related behavior, immunity, stress resistance and lifespan. MicroRNAs, which play important roles in post-transcriptional gene regulation, likewise affect many biological processes. The actions of microRNAs and Vg are known to intersect in the context of reproduction; however, the role of these associations on social behavior is unknown. The phenotypic effects of Vg knockdown are best established and studied in the forager stage of workers. Thus, we exploited the well-established RNA interference (RNAi) protocol for Vg knockdown to investigate its downstream effects on microRNA population in honey bee foragers' brain and fat body tissue. To identify microRNAs that are differentially expressed between tissues in control and knockdown foragers, we used mu Paraflo microfluidic oligonucleotide microRNA microarrays. Our results showed that 76 and 74 microRNAs were expressed in the brain of control and knockdown foragers whereas 66 and 69 microRNAs were expressed in the fat body of control and knockdown foragers, respectively. Target prediction identified potential seed matches for a differentially expressed subset of microRNAs affected by Vg knockdown. These candidate genes are involved in a broad range of biological processes including insulin signaling, juvenile hormone (JH) and ecdysteroid signaling previously shown to affect foraging behavior. Thus, here we demonstrate a causal link between the Vg knockdown forager phenotype and variation in the abundance of microRNAs in different tissues, with possible consequences for the regulation of foraging behavior. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 11/03171-5 - Causal analysis of Apis mellifera development: regulatory genes and hierachical networks of gene expression in the specification of tissue and organs
• Grantee: Zilá Luz Paulino Simões
• Support Opportunities: Research Projects - Thematic Grants
• FAPESP's process: 07/07594-2 - Regulatory and functional networks associated to vitellogenin gene expression in Apis mellifera castes
• Grantee: Francis de Morais Franco Nunes
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral