Epigenetic modifications and their relation to caste and sex determination and adult division of labor in the stingless bee Melipona scutellaris
Abstract Stingless bees of the genus Melipona, have long been considered an enigmatic case among social insects for their mode of caste determination, where in addition to larval food type and quantity, the genotype also has a saying, as proposed over 50 years ago by Warwick E. Kerr. Several attempt...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Sociedade Brasileira de Genética
2017-03-01
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| Series: | Genetics and Molecular Biology |
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| Online Access: | http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1415-47572017000100061&lng=en&tlng=en |
| _version_ | 1819315461250088960 |
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| author | Carlos A.M. Cardoso-Júnior Patrícia Tieme Fujimura Célio Dias Santos-Júnior Naiara Araújo Borges Carlos Ueira-Vieira Klaus Hartfelder Luiz Ricardo Goulart Ana Maria Bonetti |
| author_facet | Carlos A.M. Cardoso-Júnior Patrícia Tieme Fujimura Célio Dias Santos-Júnior Naiara Araújo Borges Carlos Ueira-Vieira Klaus Hartfelder Luiz Ricardo Goulart Ana Maria Bonetti |
| author_sort | Carlos A.M. Cardoso-Júnior |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Stingless bees of the genus Melipona, have long been considered an enigmatic case among social insects for their mode of caste determination, where in addition to larval food type and quantity, the genotype also has a saying, as proposed over 50 years ago by Warwick E. Kerr. Several attempts have since tried to test his Mendelian two-loci/two-alleles segregation hypothesis, but only recently a single gene crucial for sex determination in bees was evidenced to be sex-specifically spliced and also caste-specifically expressed in a Melipona species. Since alternative splicing is frequently associated with epigenetic marks, and the epigenetic status plays a major role in setting the caste phenotype in the honey bee, we investigated here epigenetic chromatin modification in the stingless bee Melipona scutellaris. We used an ELISA-based methodology to quantify global methylation status and western blot assays to reveal histone modifications. The results evidenced DNA methylation/demethylation events in larvae and pupae, and significant differences in histone methylation and phosphorylation between newly emerged adult queens and workers. The epigenetic dynamics seen in this stingless bee species represent a new facet in the caste determination process in Melipona bees and suggest a possible mechanism that is likely to link a genotype component to the larval diet and adult social behavior of these bees. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-24T10:00:28Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-bd49438583554257b48c065ea5cda71e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1678-4685 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-24T10:00:28Z |
| publishDate | 2017-03-01 |
| publisher | Sociedade Brasileira de Genética |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Genetics and Molecular Biology |
| spelling | doaj.art-bd49438583554257b48c065ea5cda71e2022-12-21T17:01:06ZengSociedade Brasileira de GenéticaGenetics and Molecular Biology1678-46852017-03-01401616810.1590/1678-4685-gmb-2016-0242S1415-47572017000100061Epigenetic modifications and their relation to caste and sex determination and adult division of labor in the stingless bee Melipona scutellarisCarlos A.M. Cardoso-JúniorPatrícia Tieme FujimuraCélio Dias Santos-JúniorNaiara Araújo BorgesCarlos Ueira-VieiraKlaus HartfelderLuiz Ricardo GoulartAna Maria BonettiAbstract Stingless bees of the genus Melipona, have long been considered an enigmatic case among social insects for their mode of caste determination, where in addition to larval food type and quantity, the genotype also has a saying, as proposed over 50 years ago by Warwick E. Kerr. Several attempts have since tried to test his Mendelian two-loci/two-alleles segregation hypothesis, but only recently a single gene crucial for sex determination in bees was evidenced to be sex-specifically spliced and also caste-specifically expressed in a Melipona species. Since alternative splicing is frequently associated with epigenetic marks, and the epigenetic status plays a major role in setting the caste phenotype in the honey bee, we investigated here epigenetic chromatin modification in the stingless bee Melipona scutellaris. We used an ELISA-based methodology to quantify global methylation status and western blot assays to reveal histone modifications. The results evidenced DNA methylation/demethylation events in larvae and pupae, and significant differences in histone methylation and phosphorylation between newly emerged adult queens and workers. The epigenetic dynamics seen in this stingless bee species represent a new facet in the caste determination process in Melipona bees and suggest a possible mechanism that is likely to link a genotype component to the larval diet and adult social behavior of these bees.http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1415-47572017000100061&lng=en&tlng=enDNA methylationhistone modificationcaste developmentsocial beesgenetic caste determination |
| spellingShingle | Carlos A.M. Cardoso-Júnior Patrícia Tieme Fujimura Célio Dias Santos-Júnior Naiara Araújo Borges Carlos Ueira-Vieira Klaus Hartfelder Luiz Ricardo Goulart Ana Maria Bonetti Epigenetic modifications and their relation to caste and sex determination and adult division of labor in the stingless bee Melipona scutellaris Genetics and Molecular Biology DNA methylation histone modification caste development social bees genetic caste determination |
| title | Epigenetic modifications and their relation to caste and sex determination and adult division of labor in the stingless bee Melipona scutellaris |
| title_full | Epigenetic modifications and their relation to caste and sex determination and adult division of labor in the stingless bee Melipona scutellaris |
| title_fullStr | Epigenetic modifications and their relation to caste and sex determination and adult division of labor in the stingless bee Melipona scutellaris |
| title_full_unstemmed | Epigenetic modifications and their relation to caste and sex determination and adult division of labor in the stingless bee Melipona scutellaris |
| title_short | Epigenetic modifications and their relation to caste and sex determination and adult division of labor in the stingless bee Melipona scutellaris |
| title_sort | epigenetic modifications and their relation to caste and sex determination and adult division of labor in the stingless bee melipona scutellaris |
| topic | DNA methylation histone modification caste development social bees genetic caste determination |
| url | http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1415-47572017000100061&lng=en&tlng=en |
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