Reproductive protein protects functionally sterile honey bee workers from oxidative stress.
Research on aging shows that regulatory pathways of fertility and senescence are closely interlinked. However, evolutionary theories on social species propose that lifelong care for offspring can shape the course of senescence beyond the restricted context of reproductive capability. These observations suggest that control circuits of aging are remodeled in social organisms with continuing care for offspring. Here, we studied a circuit of aging in the honey bee (Apis mellifera). The bee is characterized by the presence of a long-lived reproductive queen caste and a shorter-lived caste of female workers that are life-long alloparental care givers. We focus on the role of the conserved yolk precursor gene vitellogenin that, in Caenorhabditis elegans, shortens lifespan as a downstream element of the insulin/insulin-like growth factor signaling cascade. Vitellogenin protein is synthesized at high levels in honey bee queens and is abundant in long-lived workers. We establish that vitellogenin gene activity protects worker bees from oxidative stress. Our finding suggests that one mechanistic explanation for patterns of longevity in bees is that a reproductive regulatory pathway has been remodeled to extend life. This perspective is of considerable relevance to research on longevity regulation that builds largely on inference from solitary model species.
Seehuus
Siri-Christine
SC
Department of Animal and Aquacultural Sciences, Microscopy Division, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, N-1432 As, Norway.
Norberg
Kari
K
Gimsa
Ulrike
U
Krekling
Trygve
T
Amdam
Gro V
GV
D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000378:metabolism; D001516:Bees / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D005075:Biological Evolution; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans; D002244:Carbon / Q000737:chemistry; D005260:Female; D005298:Fertility; D006458:Hemolymph; D020287:In Situ Nick-End Labeling; D007328:Insulin / Q000378:metabolism; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D018384:Oxidative Stress; D010100:Oxygen / Q000378:metabolism; D011506:Proteins / Q000737:chemistry; D034622:RNA Interference; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species; D015398:Signal Transduction; D013997:Time Factors; D014819:Vitellogenins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000502:physiology*
D000975:Antioxidants; D007328:Insulin; D011506:Proteins; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species; D014819:Vitellogenins; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I; D002244:Carbon; D010100:Oxygen