Vitellogenin regulates hormonal dynamics in the worker caste of a eusocial insect.
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.
Guidugli
Karina R
KR
Departamento de Genética, Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil.
Nascimento
Adriana M
AM
Amdam
Gro V
GV
Barchuk
Angel R
AR
Omholt
Stig
S
Simões
Zilá L P
ZL
Hartfelder
Klaus
K
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*
D007605:Juvenile Hormones; D014819:Vitellogenins