Social regulation of ageing by young workers in the honey bee, Apis mellifera

© 2016 The Authors Organisms' lifespans are modulated by both genetic and environmental factors. The lifespan of eusocial insects is determined by features of the division of labor, which itself is influenced by social regulatory mechanisms. In the honey bee, Apis mellifera, the presence of bro...

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Main Authors: Michael Eyer, Benjamin Dainat, Peter Neumann, Vincent Dietemann
Format: Journal
Published: 2018
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http://cmuir.cmu.ac.th/jspui/handle/6653943832/46478
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Institution: Chiang Mai University
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spelling th-cmuir.6653943832-464782018-04-25T07:34:02Z Social regulation of ageing by young workers in the honey bee, Apis mellifera Michael Eyer Benjamin Dainat Peter Neumann Vincent Dietemann Agricultural and Biological Sciences © 2016 The Authors Organisms' lifespans are modulated by both genetic and environmental factors. The lifespan of eusocial insects is determined by features of the division of labor, which itself is influenced by social regulatory mechanisms. In the honey bee, Apis mellifera, the presence of brood and of old workers carrying out foraging tasks are important social drivers of ageing, but the influence of young adult workers is unknown, as it has not been experimentally teased apart from that of brood. In this study, we test the role of young workers in the ageing of their nestmates. We measured the impact of different social contexts characterized by the absence of brood and/or young adults on the lifespan of worker nestmates in field colonies. To acquire insight into the physiological processes occurring under these contexts, we analyzed the expression of genes known to affect honey bee ageing. The data showed that young workers significantly reduced the lifespan of nestmate workers, similar to the effect of brood on its own. Differential expression of vitellogenin, major royal jelly protein-1, and methylase transferase, but not methyl farneosate epoxidase genes suggests that young workers and brood influence ageing of adult nestmate workers via different physiological pathways. We identify young workers as an essential part of the social regulation of ageing in honey bee colonies. 2018-04-25T06:55:30Z 2018-04-25T06:55:30Z 2017-01-01 Journal 18736815 05315565 2-s2.0-85000785450 10.1016/j.exger.2016.11.006 https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?partnerID=HzOxMe3b&scp=85000785450&origin=inward http://cmuir.cmu.ac.th/jspui/handle/6653943832/46478
institution Chiang Mai University
building Chiang Mai University Library
country Thailand
collection CMU Intellectual Repository
topic Agricultural and Biological Sciences
spellingShingle Agricultural and Biological Sciences
Michael Eyer
Benjamin Dainat
Peter Neumann
Vincent Dietemann
Social regulation of ageing by young workers in the honey bee, Apis mellifera
description © 2016 The Authors Organisms' lifespans are modulated by both genetic and environmental factors. The lifespan of eusocial insects is determined by features of the division of labor, which itself is influenced by social regulatory mechanisms. In the honey bee, Apis mellifera, the presence of brood and of old workers carrying out foraging tasks are important social drivers of ageing, but the influence of young adult workers is unknown, as it has not been experimentally teased apart from that of brood. In this study, we test the role of young workers in the ageing of their nestmates. We measured the impact of different social contexts characterized by the absence of brood and/or young adults on the lifespan of worker nestmates in field colonies. To acquire insight into the physiological processes occurring under these contexts, we analyzed the expression of genes known to affect honey bee ageing. The data showed that young workers significantly reduced the lifespan of nestmate workers, similar to the effect of brood on its own. Differential expression of vitellogenin, major royal jelly protein-1, and methylase transferase, but not methyl farneosate epoxidase genes suggests that young workers and brood influence ageing of adult nestmate workers via different physiological pathways. We identify young workers as an essential part of the social regulation of ageing in honey bee colonies.
format Journal
author Michael Eyer
Benjamin Dainat
Peter Neumann
Vincent Dietemann
author_facet Michael Eyer
Benjamin Dainat
Peter Neumann
Vincent Dietemann
author_sort Michael Eyer
title Social regulation of ageing by young workers in the honey bee, Apis mellifera
title_short Social regulation of ageing by young workers in the honey bee, Apis mellifera
title_full Social regulation of ageing by young workers in the honey bee, Apis mellifera
title_fullStr Social regulation of ageing by young workers in the honey bee, Apis mellifera
title_full_unstemmed Social regulation of ageing by young workers in the honey bee, Apis mellifera
title_sort social regulation of ageing by young workers in the honey bee, apis mellifera
publishDate 2018
url https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?partnerID=HzOxMe3b&scp=85000785450&origin=inward
http://cmuir.cmu.ac.th/jspui/handle/6653943832/46478
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