Caste-specific transcription in the female honey bee

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Abstract

Caste differentiation in the female honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) is regulated by trophogenic factors during larval development. We have employed in vitro translation of mRNA and SDS-PAGE to examine caste-specific patterns of transcriptional activity within cohorts of bipotent female larvae artificially manipulated to develop as queens or workers. During development from 12 h larvae through adult eclosion we observe similar changes in the relative abundance of several individual mRNAs in both queens and workers. Our results also provide clear evidence for caste-specific differences in patterns of transcriptional activity, particularly during the larval and prepupal stages of development. The results demonstrate that phenotypic alterations representing caste-specific differentiation in the female honey bee are regulated by the asynchronous timing and relative levels of specific gene activities. These results represent the first report of extrinsic regulation of bidirectional differentiation within a single organism.

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    Present address: Department of Veterinary Science, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706, U.S.A.

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