title: Differential gene expression in the mandibular glands of queen and worker honeybees, Apis mellifera L.: implications for caste-selective aldehyde and fatty acid metabolism.
abstract: In honeybees, queens synthesize the "queen pheromone," whereas workers synthesize fatty acid components of "royal jelly" in their mandibular glands (MGs). To identify candidate proteins involved in the caste-selective MG function, we performed a proteomic analysis and identified three proteins that were expressed selectively in queen MGs (aldehyde dehydrogenase 1 [ALDH1], medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase [MCAD], and electron transfer flavoprotein alpha [ETFalpha)]), and a protein that was expressed selectively in worker MGs (fatty acid synthase [FAS)]). The quantitative reversed transcription-polymerase chain reaction demonstrated that the level of aldh1 transcription in MGs was significantly higher, whereas that of fas transcription was lower in queens than in workers. Among the eight genes encoding proteins similar to ALDH1 that are registered in the honeybee genome database, aldh6, aldh7, and aldh1 were expressed at significantly higher levels in queen MGs than in worker MGs. In situ hybridization showed that in the queen head, aldh1 was expressed in MG cells, whereas aldh6 and aldh7 were expressed in fat cells attached to the MGs. These results suggest caste- and cell type-selective aldehyde/fatty acid metabolism in honeybee MGs.
authors: Department of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
authors: Makoto
authors: M
authors: Hasegawa
authors: Satomi
authors: S
authors: Asanuma
authors: Tomoko
authors: T
authors: Fujiyuki
authors: Taketoshi
authors: T
authors: Kiya
authors: Tetsuhiko
authors: T
authors: Sasaki
authors: Daisuke
authors: D
authors: Endo
authors: Mizue
authors: M
authors: Morioka
authors: Takeo
authors: T
authors: Kubo
mesh_terms: D042964:Acyl-CoA Dehydrogenase / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D000444:Aldehyde Dehydrogenase / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D000447:Aldehydes / Q000378:metabolism*; D000819:Animal Communication; D000818:Animals; D001516:Bees / Q000737:chemistry / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D015180:Electrophoresis, Gel, Two-Dimensional; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D015971:Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic; D019476:Insect Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D000447:Aldehydes; D005227:Fatty Acids; D019476:Insect Proteins; D000444:Aldehyde Dehydrogenase; D042964:Acyl-CoA Dehydrogenase