Project description:Transcriptomes provide excellent foundational resources for mechanistic and evolutionary analyses of complex traits. We present a developmental transcriptome for the facultatively eusocial bee Megalopta genalis, which represents a potential transition point in the evolution of eusociality. A de novo transcriptome assembly of Megalopta genalis was generated using paired-end Illumina sequencing and the Trinity assembler. Males and females of all life stages were aligned to this transcriptome for analysis of gene expression profiles throughout development. Gene Ontology analysis indicates that stage-specific genes are involved in ion transport, cell-cell signaling, and metabolism. A number of distinct biological processes are upregulated in each life stage, and transitions between life stages involve shifts in dominant functional processes, including shifts from transcriptional regulation in embryos to metabolism in larvae, and increased lipid metabolism in adults. We expect that this transcriptome will provide a useful resource for future analyses to better understand the molecular basis of the evolution of eusociality and, more generally, phenotypic plasticity.

| S-EPMC4592995 | biostudies-literature

Project description:Megalopta genalis population genetics

| PRJNA494983 | ENA

Project description:Megalopta genalis genome sequencing

| PRJNA1168909 | ENA

Cryptic extended brood care in the facultatively eusocial sweat bee <i>Megalopta genalis</i>.

Project description:As a result of different brood cell provisioning strategies, nest-making insects may differ in the extent to which adults regularly provide extended parental care to their brood beyond nest defense. Mass-provisioning species cache the entire food supply needed for larval development prior to the oviposition and typically seal the brood cell. It is usually assumed that there is no regular contact between the adult(s) and brood. Here, we show that the bee, Megalopta genalis, expresses a form of cryptic brood care, which would not be observed during normal development. Following experimental injections of different provisioning materials into brood cells, foundresses reopened manipulated cells and the brood were aborted in some cases, implying that the foundresses assessed conditions within the cells. In aborted cells, foundresses sometimes laid a second egg after first removing dead larvae, previously stored pollen and contaminants. Our results show that hygienic brood care can be cryptic and hence may be more widespread than previously believed, lending support to the hypothesis that extended parental care is a preadaptation toward eusociality.

| S-EPMC4469088 | biostudies-literature

insect metagenome

Project description:Megalopta centrails and Megalopta genalis Targeted Locus (Loci)

| PRJNA210873 | ENA