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PLoS One

Title:		"E-beta-ocimene, a volatile brood pheromone involved in social regulation in the honey bee colony (Apis mellifera)"
Author(s):		Maisonnasse A; Lenoir JC; Beslay D; Crauser D; Le Conte Y;
Address:		"INRA, UMR 406, Abeilles et Environnement, Laboratoire Biologie et Protection de l'Abeille, Avignon, France. alban.maisonnasse@avignon.inra.fr"
Journal Title:		PLoS One
Year:		2010
Volume:		20101021
Issue:		10
Page Number:		e13531 -
DOI:		10.1371/journal.pone.0013531
ISSN/ISBN:		1932-6203 (Electronic) 1932-6203 (Linking)
Abstract:		"BACKGROUND: In honey bee colony, the brood is able to manipulate and chemically control the workers in order to sustain their own development. A brood ester pheromone produced primarily by old larvae (4 and 5 days old larvae) was first identified as acting as a contact pheromone with specific effects on nurses in the colony. More recently a new volatile brood pheromone has been identified: E-beta-ocimene, which partially inhibits ovary development in workers. METHODOLOGY AND PRINCIPAL FINDING: Our analysis of E-beta-ocimene production revealed that young brood (newly hatched to 3 days old) produce the highest quantity of E-beta-ocimene relative to their body weight. By testing the potential action of this molecule as a non-specific larval signal, due to its high volatility in the colony, we demonstrated that in the presence of E-beta-ocimene nest workers start to forage earlier in life, as seen in the presence of real brood. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: In this way, young larvae are able to assign precedence to the task of foraging by workers in order to increase food stores for their own development. Thus, in the complexity of honey bee chemical communication, E-beta-ocimene, a pheromone of young larvae, provides the brood with the means to express their nutritional needs to the workers"
Keywords:		"Acyclic Monoterpenes Alkenes/*pharmacology Animals Bees/*physiology Behavior, Animal Volatilization;"
Notes:		"MedlineMaisonnasse, Alban Lenoir, Jean-Christophe Beslay, Dominique Crauser, Didier Le Conte, Yves eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't 2010/11/03 PLoS One. 2010 Oct 21; 5(10):e13531. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0013531"