Data from: Transcriptome analysis reveals nutrition‐ and age‐related patterns of gene expression in the fat body of pre‐overwintering bumble bee queens

Many diapausing insects undergo a nutrient storage period prior to their
entry into diapause. Bumble bee queens diapause as adults in the winter
preceding their spring nest initiation period. Before diapause, they
sequester glycogen and lipids, which they metabolize during the
overwintering period. We used RNA sequencing to examine how age and nectar
diet (specifically, the concentration of sucrose in nectar) impact gene
expression in the pre-overwintering bumble bee queen fat body, the
“liver-like” organ in insects with broad functions related to nutrient
storage and metabolism. We found that diet on its own, and in combination
with age, impacts the expression of genes involved in detoxification. Age
was also a strong driver of gene expression, especially at earlier ages
(up to 3 days). In addition to these molecular correlates of diet and age,
we also found a putative molecular signature of diapause entry or
preparation in adult queens in the oldest age group (12 days) fed the most
sucrose-rich diet, based on comparisons between our data set and another
transcriptome data set from bumble bee queens. This transcriptomic pattern
suggests that preparation for (or entry into) diapause might be in part
mediated by nutritional state in bumble bee queens. Collectively, these
findings show that there are molecular processes in the fat body that are
responsive to sucrose levels in the diet and/or associated with
age-related maturational changes. A better understanding of these
processes may shed light on important aspects of bumble bee biology, such
as queen responses to nutritional and other forms of stress, and the
factors that regulate their entrance into diapause.