The Longevity Mechanism of Queen Honey Bees (Apis Mellifera)

Honeybee (Apis mellifera) is a unique model animal for studying aging and longevity. Queen and worker bees are female and share the same genome; however, the lifespan of queen bees is 30-fold longer than worker bees. The aging and longevity of individuals are based on the aging and longevity of their cells. Trophocytes and oenocytes are used for studying the mechanisms of aging and longevity due to the ease of isolation from the abdomen, convenient manipulation, and lack of cell division during adulthood. We previously assayed the gene expression of trophocytes and oenocytes in queen and worker bees and found that the genes involved in the cholesterol-hydroxyecdysone-vitellogenin (Vg) pathway have significant higher expression in queen than worker bees. This finding suggests that the cholesterol-hydroxyecdysone-Vg pathway seems to be involved in the longevity of queen bees. We found that worker bees feeding 12.5% RJ may be used for longevity studies because worker bees feeding 12.5% RJ have the longest lifespan and no ovary development. In this proposal, we ask a fundamental and key question which is the longevity mechanism of queen bees. The specific aims of this proposal are as follows: (1) to establish worker bees feeding 12.5% RJ as an experimental system to study the longevity mechanism of honey bees, (2) to investigate whether the cholesterol-hydroxyecdysone-Vg pathway is associated with the longevity of 12.5% RJ-reared worker bees, (3) to study whether cholesterol-hydroxyecdysone-Vg pathway participates in bee’s longevity by P450 314A1 20-hydroxylase (Cyp314A1) or Vg RNA interference (RNAi), (4) to investigate how 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E) or cholesterol influences bee’s longevity, and (5) to study the longevity role of 60, 55, and 50-kDa unknown proteins in the hemolymph of 12.5% RJ-reared worker bees. Finished this study can establish an experimental system to study the longevity mechanism of honey bees, demonstrate the cholesterol-hydroxyecdysone-Vg pathway participating in the longevity mechanism of queen bees, and demonstrate the longevity role of 60, 55, and 50-kDa unknown proteins.

Project ID:PC10901-0850
External Project ID:MOST108-2320-B182-037-MY3