title: Pheromones affecting ovary activation and ovariole loss in the Asian honey bee Apis cerana.
abstract: The Asian hive bee Apis cerana has similar queen mandibular pheromones (QMP) to the Western honey bee Apismellifera. However the effects of individual QMP components have never been tested to determine their effects on the reproductive physiology of A. cerana workers. We fed one queen equivalent of each of the major components of A. cerana QMP to groups of c.a. 500 day-old, caged, workers twice a day until the workers were 10 days old. Half of the cages were also provided with 10% royal jelly in the food. Workers were sampled each day and dissected to determine the number of ovarioles and the degree of ovary activation (egg development). In cages treated with 9-carbon fatty acids ovary activation was minimal, whereas the 10-carbon acids suppressed ovary activation very little. Royal jelly enhanced ovary activation, especially in cages treated with 10-carbon acids. The number of ovarioles declined with bee age, but the rate of decline was slowed by the 9-carbon acids in particular. The results show conservation of the composition and function of QMP between A. cerana and A. mellifera and support the hypothesis that QMP is an honest signal of queen fecundity rather than a chemical castrator of workers.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Science, Kunming, Yunnan Province 650223, China; Eastern Bee Research Institute of Yunnan Agricultural University, Heilongtan, Kunming, Yunnan Province 650201, China. Electronic address: kentan@xtbg.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Ken
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.affiliation: Eastern Bee Research Institute of Yunnan Agricultural University, Heilongtan, Kunming, Yunnan Province 650201, China. Electronic address: liuxiwen1345890@163.com.
authors.forename: Xiwen
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Eastern Bee Research Institute of Yunnan Agricultural University, Heilongtan, Kunming, Yunnan Province 650201, China. Electronic address: 850143087@qq.com.
authors.forename: Sihao
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.affiliation: Eastern Bee Research Institute of Yunnan Agricultural University, Heilongtan, Kunming, Yunnan Province 650201, China. Electronic address: 402615976@qq.com.
authors.forename: Chao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Laboratory, School of Biological Sciences A12, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia. Electronic address: benjamin.oldroyd@sydney.edu.au.
authors.forename: Benjamin P
authors.initials: BP
authors.lastname: Oldroyd
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D001516:Bees / Q000502:physiology*; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000494:pharmacology; D005260:Female; D010053:Ovary / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D010675:Pheromones / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000502:physiology; D000099219:Royal Jelly
chemical_list: D005227:Fatty Acids; D010675:Pheromones; D000099219:Royal Jelly
keywords: (E)-10-hydroxy-2-decenoic acid (10-HDA); 10-Hydroxydecanoic acid (10-HDAA); 9-Keto-(E)-2-decenoic acid (9-ODA); Primer pheromone; Queen mandibular pheromone; Signalling