title: Differentially expressed regulatory genes in honey bee caste development.
abstract: In the honey bee, an eminently fertile queen with up to 200 ovarioles per ovary monopolizes colony level reproduction. In contrast, worker bees have only few ovarioles and are essentially sterile. This phenotype divergence is a result of caste-specifically modulated juvenile hormone and ecdysteroid titers in larval development. In this study we employed a differential-display reverse transcription (DDRT)-PCR protocol to detect ecdysteroid-regulated gene expression during a critical phase of caste development. We identified a Ftz-F1 homolog and a Cut-like transcript. Ftz-F1 could be a putative element of the metamorphic ecdysone response cascade of bees, whereas Cut-like proteins are described as transcription factors involved in maintaining cellular differentiation states. The downregulation of both factors can be interpreted as steps in the metamorphic degradation of ovarioles in worker-bee ovaries.
authors.affiliation: Lehrstuhl Entwicklungsphysiologie, Zoologisches Institut, Universität Tübingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 28, 72076 Tübingen, Germany. christine.hepperle@adelaide.edu.au
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hepperle
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hartfelder
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001516:Bees / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000235:genetics; D026461:Ecdysteroids; D005260:Female; D051717:Fushi Tarazu Transcription Factors; D017344:Genes, Insect; D005809:Genes, Regulator; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D007301:Insect Hormones / Q000502:physiology; D019476:Insect Proteins; D008675:Metamorphosis, Biological; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D010053:Ovary / Q000502:physiology; D051381:Rats; D018160:Receptors, Cytoplasmic and Nuclear; D012097:Repressor Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D012919:Social Behavior; D054339:Steroidogenic Factor 1; D013256:Steroids / Q000502:physiology; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: C000624101:Cux1 protein, mouse; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D026461:Ecdysteroids; D051717:Fushi Tarazu Transcription Factors; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins; D007301:Insect Hormones; D019476:Insect Proteins; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D018160:Receptors, Cytoplasmic and Nuclear; D012097:Repressor Proteins; D054339:Steroidogenic Factor 1; D013256:Steroids; D014157:Transcription Factors; C497169:ftz protein, Drosophila; C499712:nuclear hormone receptor FTZ-F1, Drosophila