西方蜜蜂不同级型王浆主蛋白MRJP8基因的表达差异

Differences in the expression of the major royal jelly protein 8 gene in different castes of Apis mellifera

【目的】王浆主蛋白在蜜蜂的级型分化中具有重要的功能。为探究mrjp8在西方蜜蜂Apis mellifera不同级型的表达模式及功能差异。【方法】利用荧光定量PCR技术对西方蜜蜂工蜂、雄蜂和蜂王不同发育时期和不同组织的mrjp8表达水平进行检测。【结果】工蜂体内mrjp8在9日龄前后的毒腺组织内特异性高表达,为参照基因表达量的上万倍,在其他发育时期和组织的表达量则明显较低,其表达具有明显的时空特异性;在雄蜂体内其表达量与对照相当;在蜂王体内表达量可达参照的近1 000倍,没有组织特异性。【结论】mrjp8的这种表达模式提示其在工蜂防御及维系蜂王长寿命方面有积极作用,这为进一步研究该基因乃至整个王浆蛋白基因家族的进化和功能分化提供了依据。

[Aim] Major royal jelly proteins play a vital role in honey bee （Apis rnellifera L. ） caste determination. The aim of this study was to study the expression pattern of major royal jelly protein 8 gene mrjp8 and its possible function in different castes of honeybee （Apis mellifera L. ）. [ Methods ] The expression level of mrjp8 in different developmental stages and tissues of different castes （worker, queen and drone） was determined using real-time quantitative PCR. [ Results ] The results showed that mrjp8 was highly expressed in the venom glands of 9 day-old adult worker bees with a level of 10 000 times higher than the reference, but significantly lowly expressed in other developmental stages and tissues. The expression of mrjp8 in workers was both time- and tissue-specific. In drones, the expression of mrjp8 was lowly expressed with a level similar to the reference. In queens, the expression of mrjp8 was non- tissue-specific with a level of 1 000 times as high as the reference. [ Conclusion] Such expression pattern of mrjp8 hints its positive roles in worker defense and maintenance of the long life span of queens, and this provides a basis for future research of biological function and the evolution of mtjp8 and even the diversification of the whole major royal jelly protein gene family.