Get a big buzz from royal jelly and become a Queen Bee

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Friday, 14 March 2008 20:05

Science - Biology

According to the ANU, the researchers work won’t stop, but will continue to study “how DNA methylation affects bees, as they suspect that the process could also be responsible for how the insects’ brains develop, and may thus be connected to bee behaviour and even social organisation.”

Explaining the nature/nuture link, the ANU says that the research “suggests that environmental factors, such as how organisms are nurtured, can have a major influence on how they develop.”

The research team of four busy bees includes Joanna Maleszka, Dr Robert Kucharski, Dr Sylvain Foret and Paul Helliwell.

The ANU says that the foursome’s current work “grew out of the honeybee genome project, which mapped the entire genetic blueprint of bees. Royal jelly is a food substance secreted by adult bees that is fed in some measure to all young bees. The larvae that is chosen to be queen is fed an exclusive diet of royal jelly.”

According to Science Magazine, the abstract of the published research findings is as follows:

“Fertile queens and sterile workers are alternative forms of the adult female honey bee that develop from genetically identical larvae following differential feeding with royal jelly. We now show that silencing the expression of DNA methyltransferase Dnmt3, a key driver of epigenetic global reprogramming, in newly hatched larvae, leads to a stunning royal jelly-like effect on the larval developmental trajectory; the majority of Dnmt3 siRNA-treated individuals now emerge as queens with fully developed ovaries.”

Hmm... sounds like we’re getting into the “birds and the bees” territory.

The abstract continues: “Our results suggest that; DNA methylation in Apis is utilized for storing epigenetic information; that the utilization of that information can be differentially altered by nutritional input, and that the flexibility of epigenetic modifications underpin profound shifts in developmental fates with massive implications for reproductive and behavioural status.”

And with that, I’m going to buzz off!