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J Insect Physiol

Title:		Regulation of oogenesis in honey bee workers via programed cell death
Author(s):		Ronai I; Barton DA; Oldroyd BP; Vergoz V;
Address:		"School of Biological Sciences, Macleay Building A12, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia. Electronic address: isobel.ronai@sydney.edu.au. School of Biological Sciences, Macleay Building A12, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia"
Journal Title:		J Insect Physiol
Year:		2015
Volume:		20150625
Issue:
Page Number:		36 - 41
DOI:		10.1016/j.jinsphys.2015.06.014
ISSN/ISBN:		1879-1611 (Electronic) 0022-1910 (Linking)
Abstract:		"Reproductive division of labour characterises eusociality. Currently little is known about the mechanisms that underlie the 'sterility' of the worker caste, but queen pheromone plays a major role in regulating the reproductive state. Here we investigate oogenesis in the young adult honey bee worker ovary in the presence of queen pheromone and in its absence. When queen pheromone is absent, workers can activate their ovaries and have well-developed follicles. When queen pheromone is present, even though workers have non-activated ovaries, they continually produce oocytes which are aborted at an early stage. Therefore, irrespective of the presence of the queen, the young adult worker ovary contains oocytes. By this means young workers retain reproductive plasticity. The degeneration of the germ cells in the ovarioles of workers in the presence of queen pheromone has the morphological hallmarks of programmed cell death. Therefore the mechanistic basis of 'worker sterility' relies in part on the regulation of oogenesis via programmed cell death. Our results suggest that honey bees have co-opted a highly conserved checkpoint at mid-oogenesis to regulate the fertility of the worker caste"
Keywords:		Animals *Apoptosis Bees/cytology/*physiology Female Oocytes/physiology Oogenesis/physiology Ovary/drug effects/*physiology Pheromones/pharmacology Reproduction/physiology Honey bee Oogenesis Ovariole Programmed cell death Worker sterility;
Notes:		"MedlineRonai, Isobel Barton, Deborah A Oldroyd, Benjamin P Vergoz, Vanina eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't England 2015/06/30 J Insect Physiol. 2015 Oct; 81:36-41. doi: 10.1016/j.jinsphys.2015.06.014. Epub 2015 Jun 25"