Honey bee (Apis mellifera) larval pheromones may regulate gene expression related to foraging task specialization.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Foraging behavior in honey bees (Apis mellifera) is a complex phenotype that is regulated by physiological state and social signals. How these factors are integrated at the molecular level to modulate foraging behavior has not been well characterized. The transition of worker bees from nursing to foraging behaviors is mediated by large-scale changes in brain gene expression, which are influenced by pheromones produced by the queen and larvae. Larval pheromones can also stimulate foragers to leave the colony to collect pollen. However, the mechanisms underpinning this rapid behavioral plasticity in foragers that specialize in collecting pollen over nectar, and how larval pheromones impact these different behavioral states, remains to be determined. Here, we investigated t

SUBMITTER: Ma R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6642498 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature