Expression of Elongase- and Desaturase-Encoding Genes Shapes the Cuticular Hydrocarbon Profiles of Honey Bees.

ABSTRACT: Most terrestrial insects have a layer of cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) protecting them from desiccation and mediating chemical communication. The composition of these hydrocarbons is highly plastic and changes during their lifetime and with environmental conditions. How these changes in CHC composition are achieved is largely unknown. CHC profiles of Apis mellifera honey bees vary among castes, task groups and subspecies adapted to different climates. This makes A. mellifera an excellent model for studying the molecular mechanism underlying CHC biosynthesis. We correlated the expression of specific elongase- and desaturase-encoding genes with the CHC composition in bees performing different social tasks in two highly divergent A. mellifera subspecies. Elongases are enzymes that lengthen th

SUBMITTER: Rodriguez-Leon DS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11974489 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature