Analysis of differentially expressed genes associated with the behavioral transition between nurses andforagers in Apis cerana cerana
Author of the article:ZONG Chao** LIU Fang YU Lin-Sheng*** WANG Tian-Shu SHI Teng-Fei
Author's Workplace:College of Animal Science & Technology, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei 230036, China
Key Words:nurses, foragers, Real-time Quantitative Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain, differential expression
Abstract: [Objectives] To find important genes associated with the behavioral transition between nurses and foragers in the honeybee Apis cerana cerana. [Methods] Total RNA was extracted from nurses and foragers of eight colonies of A. cerana cerana. Real-time Quantitative Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain (RT-qPCR) was used to detect differences in genes between nurses and foragers. [Results] The results revealed that the expression of the mrjp3、mrjp7、Ache、LOC406142、Hbg3、Mblk-1、Ef-1a-f1、TpnCIIIa、Wat and Ant genes were significantly different between nurses and foragers (P<0.01). The mrjp1、mrjp2、mrjp4、LOC406114、CSP3、Dop1、Jhe、Oa1、Per and TpnT were also differentially expressed between nurses and foragers but the difference was less significant (P<0.05). The mrjp6 and obp3 genes were not differentially expressed (P>0.05). [Conclusions] Differentially expressed genes may play an important role in the behavioral transition between nurses and foragers and identifying such genes may improve our understanding of the mechanism of behavioral transition in worker bees.