Injection of seminal fluid into the hemocoel of honey bee queens (Apis mellifera) can stimulate post-mating changes

Honey bee queens undergo dramatic behavioral (e.g., reduced sexual receptivity), physiological (e.g., ovary activation, ovulation, and modulation of pheromone production) and transcriptional changes after they complete mating. To elucidate how queen post-mating changes are influenced by seminal flui...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Scientific reports 2020-07, Vol.10 (1), p.11990-18, Article 11990
Main Authors: Jasper, W. Cameron, Brutscher, Laura M., Grozinger, Christina M., Niño, Elina L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
631/337/2019
631/443/494
Animals
Apis mellifera
Bees
Bees - genetics
Bees - physiology
Brain - metabolism
Fat body
Fat Body - metabolism
Female
Flight, Animal - physiology
Gene Expression Profiling
Gene Expression Regulation
Gene Ontology
Hemocoel
Honey
Humanities and Social Sciences
Injection
Male
multidisciplinary
Ovaries
Ovary - physiology
Ovulation
Queen pheromone
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Semen
Semen - physiology
Seminal fluid
Sexual Behavior, Animal - physiology
Sexual receptivity
Transcription
Transcriptome - genetics
Workers (insect caste)
Xenotransplantation
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Summary:Honey bee queens undergo dramatic behavioral (e.g., reduced sexual receptivity), physiological (e.g., ovary activation, ovulation, and modulation of pheromone production) and transcriptional changes after they complete mating. To elucidate how queen post-mating changes are influenced by seminal fluid, the non-spermatozoa-containing component of semen, we injected queens with semen or seminal fluid alone. We assessed queen sexual receptivity (as measured by likelihood to take mating flights), ovary activation, worker retinue response (which is influenced by queen pheromone production), and transcriptional changes in queen abdominal fat body and brain tissues. Injection with either seminal fluid or semen resulted in decreased sexual receptivity, increased attractiveness of queens to workers, and altered expression of several genes that are also regulated by natural mating in queens. The post-mating and transcriptional changes of queens receiving seminal fluid were not significantly different from queens injected with semen, suggesting that components in seminal fluid, such as seminal fluid proteins, are largely responsible for stimulating post-mating changes in queens.
ISSN:2045-2322
2045-2322
DOI:10.1038/s41598-020-68437-w