The effects of queen mandibular pheromone on nurse-aged honey bee (Apis mellifera) hypopharyngeal gland size and lipid metabolism.

ABSTRACT: Queen honey bees (Apis mellifera) release Queen Mandibular Pheromone (QMP) to regulate traits in the caste of female helpers called workers. QMP signals the queen's presence and suppresses worker reproduction. In the absence of reproduction, young workers take care of the queen and her larvae (nurse tasks), while older workers forage. In nurses, QMP increases lipid stores in abdominal fat tissue (fat body) and protein content in hypopharyngeal glands (HPG). HPG are worker-specific head glands that can synthesize proteinaceous jelly used in colony nourishment. Larger HPG signifies ability to secrete proteinaceous jelly, while shrunken glands characterize foragers that do not make jelly. While it is known that QMP increases abdominal lipid stores, the mechanism is unclear: Does QMP make work

SUBMITTER: Oreshkova A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11379314 | biostudies-literature | 2024

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature