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Gen Comp Endocrinol

Title:		Reproduction of honeybee workers is regulated by epidermal growth factor receptor signaling
Author(s):		Formesyn EM; Cardoen D; Ernst UR; Danneels EL; Van Vaerenbergh M; De Koker D; Verleyen P; Wenseleers T; Schoofs L; de Graaf DC;
Address:		"Laboratory of Zoophysiology, Ghent University, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium. Laboratory of Socio-ecology and Social Evolution, KU Leuven, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium. Research Group of Functional Genomics and Proteomics, KU Leuven, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium. Laboratory of Zoophysiology, Ghent University, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium. Electronic address: Dirk.deGraaf@UGent.be"
Journal Title:		Gen Comp Endocrinol
Year:		2014
Volume:		20131210
Issue:
Page Number:		1 - 4
DOI:		10.1016/j.ygcen.2013.12.001
ISSN/ISBN:		1095-6840 (Electronic) 0016-6480 (Linking)
Abstract:		"Eusocial insect societies display a remarkable reproductive division of labor between a single fertile queen and thousands of largely sterile workers. In most species, however, the workers retain the capacity to reproduce, particularly in queenless colonies where typically many workers lay eggs. As yet, the molecular determinants that initiate this shift in worker fertility are still poorly documented. By using RNA interference we here demonstrate that the knockdown of epidermal growth factor receptor, a gene which was previously shown to be involved in queen-worker caste differentiation, also induces reproduction in worker honeybees (Apis mellifera). These data show that worker fertility and queen-worker caste determination partly rely on the same gene regulatory networks, thereby providing a major breakthrough in our understanding of the molecular determinants of the social insects' spectacular reproductive division of labor"
Keywords:		Animals Bees/*physiology ErbB Receptors/*genetics/*metabolism Female Fertility/physiology Pheromones/*metabolism RNA Interference Reproduction/physiology Signal Transduction/*physiology Apis mellifera Epidermal growth factor receptor Fertility Honeybee Hy;
Notes:		"MedlineFormesyn, Ellen M Cardoen, Dries Ernst, Ulrich R Danneels, Ellen L Van Vaerenbergh, Matthias De Koker, Dieter Verleyen, Peter Wenseleers, Tom Schoofs, Liliane de Graaf, Dirk C eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't 2013/12/18 Gen Comp Endocrinol. 2014 Feb 1; 197:1-4. doi: 10.1016/j.ygcen.2013.12.001. Epub 2013 Dec 10"