Roles of DNA Methylation in Color Alternation of Eastern Honey Bees (Apis cerana) Induced by the Royal Jelly of Western Honey Bees (Apis mellifera).

ABSTRACT: Honey bees have a very interesting phenomenon where the larval diets of two different honey bee species are exchanged, resulting in altered phenotypes, namely, a honey bee nutritional crossbreed. This is a classical epigenetic process, but its underlying mechanisms remain unclear. This study aims to investigate the contribution of DNA methylation to the phenotypic alternation of a Apis mellifera-Apis cerana nutritional crossbreed. We used a full nutritional crossbreed technique to rear A. cerana queens by feeding their larvae with A. mellifera royal-jelly-based diets in an incubator. Subsequently, we compared genome-wide methylation sequencing, body color, GC ratio, and the DMRs between the nutritional crossbreed, A. cerana queens (NQs), and control, A. ceran

SUBMITTER: Abdelmawla A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10969989 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature