Melatonergic Regulation of Polyethism and Circadian Foraging in <i>Apis mellifera</i>.

ABSTRACT: Melatonin is a conserved indolamine implicated in circadian and developmental timing, but its role in social-insect task allocation is unclear. Here, we show that melatonergic signaling modulates the nurse → forager transition in the honey bee (Apis mellifera). A single hemocoelic dose of melatonin (100 ng) markedly reduced hive retention and advanced the age at first waggle dance by ≈9 days (median 11.8 vs. 20.9 days; common-language effect size = 0.94). Complementary manipulations-pharmacological antagonism with luzindole and RNA interference (RNAi)-mediated knockdown of a candidate melatonin receptor (AmMTR/AmMT2; transcript reduction ≈65-79% at 24-72 h)-produced reciprocal suppression of foraging, indicating pathway dependence. Transcriptional profiling revealed a

SUBMITTER: Nahar N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12786324 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature