Multidimensional Profiling of Senescence in Eastern Honey Bee, <i>Apis cerana</i> (Hymenoptera: Apidae), Workers: Morphology, Microstructure, and Transcriptomics.

ABSTRACT: Worker honey bees are crucial for colony stability and ecosystem pollination. However, the cross-scale aging features and underlying mechanisms in the Eastern honey bee (Apis cerana) remain poorly understood. This study systematically investigated age-related changes in A. cerana workers across youth (1~5 days post-emergence, dpe), middle age (29 dpe), and old age (50 dpe) through integrated morphological, ultrastructural, and transcriptomic analyses. With increasing age, the phenotypic deterioration in the old bees (OBs) was significant: the body color brightness decreased by 16.7% compared to the young bees (YBs) (p < 0.001), and the hair density of the head, thorax, and abdomen declined by 63.5%, 97.2%, and 91.5%, respectively (p < 0.0001). The wing wear inde

SUBMITTER: Ma Q 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12470740 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature