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Naturwissenschaften

Title:		Pheromonal regulation of starvation resistance in honey bee workers (Apis mellifera)
Author(s):		Fischer P; Grozinger CM;
Address:		"Department of Entomology, W.M. Keck Center for Behavioral Biology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA"
Journal Title:		Naturwissenschaften
Year:		2008
Volume:		20080415
Issue:		8
Page Number:		723 - 729
DOI:		10.1007/s00114-008-0378-8
ISSN/ISBN:		0028-1042 (Print) 0028-1042 (Linking)
Abstract:		"Most animals can modulate nutrient storage pathways according to changing environmental conditions, but in honey bees nutrient storage is also modulated according to changing behavioral tasks within a colony. Specifically, bees involved in brood care (nurses) have higher lipid stores in their abdominal fat bodies than forager bees. Pheromone communication plays an important role in regulating honey bee behavior and physiology. In particular, queen mandibular pheromone (QMP) slows the transition from nursing to foraging. We tested the effects of QMP exposure on starvation resistance, lipid storage, and gene expression in the fat bodies of worker bees. We found that indeed QMP-treated bees survived much longer compared to control bees when starved and also had higher lipid levels. Expression of vitellogenin RNA, which encodes a yolk protein that is found at higher levels in nurses than foragers, was also higher in the fat bodies of QMP-treated bees. No differences were observed in expression of genes involved in insulin signaling pathways, which are associated with nutrient storage and metabolism in a variety of species; thus, other mechanisms may be involved in increasing the lipid stores. These studies demonstrate that pheromone exposure can modify nutrient storage pathways and fat body gene expression in honey bees and suggest that chemical communication and social interactions play an important role in altering metabolic pathways"
Keywords:		Animal Communication Animals Bees/genetics/*physiology DNA Primers Feeding Behavior/drug effects Female Forkhead Transcription Factors/genetics Lipids/analysis Male Pheromones/pharmacology/*physiology Pupa Social Behavior Starvation;
Notes:		"MedlineFischer, Patrick Grozinger, Christina M eng 1 R01 DC006395-01A1/DC/NIDCD NIH HHS/ Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural Germany 2008/04/17 Naturwissenschaften. 2008 Aug; 95(8):723-9. doi: 10.1007/s00114-008-0378-8. Epub 2008 Apr 15"