In-vivo egfp expression in the honeybee Apis mellifera induced by electroporation and viral expression vector

In this study we describe egfp expression induced by two techniques: in vivo electroporation and viral transduction in several cell types of the adult honeybee brain. Non-neuronal and neuronal cell types were identified and the expression persisted at least during three days. Kenyon cells, optic lobe neurons and protocerebral lobe neurons were electroporated. Astrocyte-like glia cells, fibrous lamellar glia cells and cortex glia cells were identified. Viral transduction targeted one specific type of glia cells that could not be identified. EGFP positive cells types were rather variable after electroporation, and viral transduction resulted in more homogenous groups of positive cells. We propose that these techniques remain a good alternative to transgenic animals because they potentially target only somatic cells.

本研究描述了两种技术诱导的增强型绿色荧光蛋白（EGFP）表达：体内电穿孔（in vivo electroporation）与病毒转导（viral transduction）在成年蜜蜂大脑多种细胞类型中的应用。研究人员对非神经元与神经元细胞类型进行了鉴定，且该荧光表达至少可持续三日。肯扬细胞（Kenyon cells）、视叶神经元及前脑叶神经元均接受了电穿孔处理，同时鉴定出星形胶质样胶质细胞（Astrocyte-like glia cells）、纤维层状胶质细胞与皮层胶质细胞。病毒转导靶向了一类无法被鉴定的特定胶质细胞。电穿孔后的EGFP阳性细胞类型差异显著，而病毒转导则获得了更为均一的阳性细胞群。本研究提出，相较于转基因动物，这两种技术仍是优质替代方案，因其仅靶向体细胞。