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Queen pheromone regulates programmed cell death in the honey bee worker ovary
I Ronai1, B P Oldroyd1, V Vergoz1
1Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Laboratory, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Insect Molecular Biology
|June 21, 2016
Summary
Queen pheromone inhibits worker reproduction in social insects by triggering programmed cell death in developing oocytes. This social cue regulates ovary development and worker sterility, impacting colony function.
Area of Science:
- Social insect reproduction
- Molecular mechanisms of sterility
- Cellular regulation of oogenesis
Background:
- Queen pheromones are critical environmental cues regulating worker reproductive states in social insects.
- The molecular basis for facultative worker sterility, particularly worker oogenesis, remained largely unidentified.
- Programmed cell death (apoptosis) has been implicated in regulating worker oogenesis in honey bees (Apis mellifera).
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the influence of queen pheromone, worker age, and ovary status on programmed cell death and cell number in worker ovaries.
- To elucidate the proximate molecular mechanisms underlying queen pheromone-induced reproductive inhibition in worker bees.
Main Methods:
- Development of a novel method to simultaneously measure caspase activity (programmed cell death) and live cell number (adenosine triphosphate) in insect ovarian tissue.
- Comparative analysis of caspase activity and cell numbers in ovaries of honey bee workers exposed and unexposed to queen pheromone.
Main Results:
- Workers exposed to queen pheromone exhibited significantly higher ovarian caspase activity compared to unexposed workers.
- Queen pheromone appears to induce programmed cell death at the mid-oogenesis checkpoint, leading to oocyte abortion and worker reproductive suppression.
- Elevated caspase activity was also observed in activated ovaries of workers without queen pheromone exposure, likely due to nurse cell apoptosis in late oogenesis.
Conclusions:
- Queen pheromone actively suppresses worker reproduction by initiating programmed cell death during oocyte development.
- This study demonstrates a direct link between the social environment and the regulation of programmed cell death within an organism's tissues.
- The findings provide crucial insights into the molecular mechanisms controlling caste determination and reproductive division of labor in social insects.
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