Transcriptome of spermetheca from mated and unmated honey bee queens (Apis mellifera) versus drone semen transcriptome.

Honey bee (Apis mellifera) fertility is important for agriculture and pollination success as a 1/3 of food is attributed to honey bee pollination services. Honey bee queens have organs known as spermethecas that carry the sperm from her mating flights. The queen only mates at the beginning of her reproductive career, and the sperm collected must stay viable for the life the of queen, which can be years. What keeps the sperm viable for that period of time is unknown. Transcriptomic analysis of mated and virgin queen spermethecas as well as collected drone semen was performed to identify gene sets important for fertility and sperm viability.