Acetylcholine and choline in honey bee (Apis mellifera) worker brood food are seasonal and age-dependent.

ABSTRACT: Nursing honeybees produce brood food with millimolar concentrations of acetylcholine (ACh), which is synthesized through head gland secretions mixed with honey stomach contents. While we previously demonstrated the necessity of ACh for proper larval development, the dynamics of ACh levels throughout ontogenesis and their seasonal variations have remained unclear until now. Our HPLC analysis reveals dependencies of choline and ACh levels on larval development days (LDDs), influenced by seasonal (April-September) variations. Median ACh concentrations peak on LDD 2, declining significantly toward cell capping, while choline levels are lowest during the initial LDDs, rising markedly toward cell capping. Seasonal patterns show peak ACh levels from April to June and a low in August, paralleling

SUBMITTER: Siefert P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11303543 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature