Nutritional Control of Reproductive Status in Honeybees via DNA Methylation

R. Kucharski, J. Maleszka, S. Foret, R. Maleszka

Science 28 March 2008

Many organisms developed different phenotype from the same DNA genome in response to different environmental conditions. One example is the honeybee, Apis. At the larvae stage, the fertile queens and sterile worker bee are genetically identical. This differentiation stems from different foods that are feed to them.  Queens are feed substance call “royal-jelly”, while worker-bees are feed low-grade food.  This study found that silencing the expression of DNA methyltransferase Dnmt3, has the same effects on newly hatched larvae as feeding them “royal jelly”. Their result shows majority of undifferentiated larvae emerged as queens with fully developed ovaries after been treated with Dnmt3 RNA interference (RNAi).  This study shows that DNA methylation in Honeybee is used for storing epigenetic information, and this information can be altered by nutritional factors. 

Submitted: Loc-Duyen Pham