title: A dietary phytochemical alters caste-associated gene expression in honey bees.
abstract: In the eusocial honey bee Apis mellifera, with reproductive queens and sterile workers, a female larva's developmental fate depends on its diet; nurse bees feed queen-destined larvae exclusively royal jelly, a glandular secretion, but worker-destined larvae receive royal jelly for 3 days and subsequently jelly to which honey and beebread are added. RNA-Seq analysis demonstrated that p-coumaric acid, which is ubiquitous in honey and beebread, differentially regulates genes involved in caste determination. Rearing larvae in vitro on a royal jelly diet to which p-coumaric acid has been added produces adults with reduced ovary development. Thus, consuming royal jelly exclusively not only enriches the diet of queen-destined larvae but also may protect them from inhibitory effects of phytochemicals present in the honey and beebread fed to worker-destined larvae.
authors.affiliation: Department of Entomology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801-3795, USA.
authors.forename: Wenfu
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Mao
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA.
authors.forename: Mary A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Schuler
authors.affiliation: Department of Entomology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801-3795, USA.
authors.forename: May R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Berenbaum
keywords: Apis mellifera; beebread; caste determination; eusociality; honey; honeybee; phenolics; phytochemistry; royal jelly