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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
agricultural and biological sciences
Control of reproductive dominance by the thelytoky gene in honeybees
Biology Letters, Volume 3, No. 3, Year 2007
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Description
Differentiation into castes and reproductive division of labour are a characteristics of eusocial insects. Caste determination occurs at an early stage of larval development in social bees and is achieved via differential nutrition irrespective of the genotype. Workers are usually subordinate to the queen and altruistically refrain fromreproduction. Workers of the Cape honeybee (Apis mellifera capensis) do not necessarily refrain from reproduction. They have the unique ability to produce female offspring parthenogenetically (thelytoky) and can develop into 'pseudoqueens'. Although these are morphologically workers, they develop a queen-like phenotype with respect to physiology and behaviour. Thelytoky is determined by a single gene (th) and we show that this gene also influences other traits related to the queen phenotype, including egg production and queen pheromone synthesis. Using 566 microsatellite markers, we mapped this gene to chromosome 13 and identified a candidate locus thelytoky, similar to grainy head (a transcription factor), which has been shown to be highly expressed in queens of eusocial insects. We therefore suggest that this gene is not only important for determining the pseudoqueen phenotype in A. m. capensis workers, but is also of general importance in regulating the gene cascades controlling reproduction and sterility in female social bees. © 2007 The Royal Society.
Available Materials
https://efashare.b-cdn.net/share/pmc/articles/PMC2464700/bin/rsbl20070083s18.doc
Authors & Co-Authors
Lattorff, H. Michael G.
Germany, Halle
Martin-luther-universität Halle-wittenberg
Moritz, Robin F.A.
Germany, Halle
Martin-luther-universität Halle-wittenberg
South Africa, Pretoria
University of Pretoria
Crewe, Robin M.
South Africa, Pretoria
University of Pretoria
Solignac, Michel
France, Paris
Cnrs Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
Statistics
Citations: 86
Authors: 4
Affiliations: 3
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1098/rsbl.2007.0083
ISSN:
17449561
e-ISSN:
1744957X
Research Areas
Food Security
Genetics And Genomics
Sexual And Reproductive Health
Participants Gender
Female