title: Vitellogenin regulates hormonal dynamics in the worker caste of a eusocial insect.
abstract: Functionally sterile honey bee workers synthesize the yolk protein vitellogenin while performing nest tasks. The subsequent shift to foraging is linked to a reduced vitellogenin and an increased juvenile hormone (JH) titer. JH is a principal controller of vitellogenin expression and behavioral development. Yet, we show here that silencing of vitellogenin expression causes a significant increase in JH titer and its putative receptor. Mathematically, the increase corresponds to a dynamic dose-response. This role of vitellogenin in the tuning of the endocrine system is uncommon and may elucidate how an ancestral pathway of fertility regulation has been remodeled into a novel circuit controlling social behavior.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Genética, Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Karina R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Guidugli
authors.forename: Adriana M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Nascimento
authors.forename: Gro V
authors.initials: GV
authors.lastname: Amdam
authors.forename: Angel R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Barchuk
authors.forename: Stig
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Omholt
authors.forename: Zilá L P
authors.initials: ZL
authors.lastname: Simões
authors.forename: Klaus
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hartfelder
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001516:Bees / Q000502:physiology*; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D020868:Gene Silencing; D007605:Juvenile Hormones / Q000097:blood*; D010641:Phenotype; D034622:RNA Interference; D014819:Vitellogenins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D007605:Juvenile Hormones; D014819:Vitellogenins