Identification of genes related to high royal jelly production in the honey bee (Apis mellifera) using microarray analysis

Abstract China is the largest royal jelly producer and exporter in the world, and high royal jelly-yielding strains have been bred in the country for approximately three decades. However, information on the molecular mechanism underlying high royal jelly production is scarce. Here, a cDNA microarray was used to screen and identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) to obtain an overview on the changes in gene expression levels between high and low royal jelly producing bees. We developed a honey bee gene chip that covered 11,689 genes, and this chip was hybridised with cDNA generated from RNA isolated from heads of nursing bees. A total of 369 DEGs were identified between high and low royal jelly producing bees. Amongst these DEGs, 201 (54.47%) genes were up-regulated, whereas 168 (45.53%) were down-regulated in high royal jelly-yielding bees. Gene ontology (GO) analyses showed that they are mainly involved in four key biological processes, and pathway analyses revealed that they belong to a total of 46 biological pathways. These results provide a genetic basis for further studies on the molecular mechanisms involved in high royal jelly production.

摘要 中国是全球最大的蜂王浆（royal jelly）生产国与出口国，近三十年来国内已培育出多个高产蜂王浆品系。然而，目前关于高产蜂王浆性状背后的分子机制的相关研究资料仍较为匮乏。本研究采用cDNA微阵列（cDNA microarray）技术筛选并鉴定差异表达基因（DEGs），以全面解析高产与低产蜂王浆蜂群间的基因表达水平变化。我们构建了覆盖11689个基因的蜜蜂基因芯片，以哺育蜂头部提取的RNA反转录得到的cDNA作为杂交模板完成芯片杂交。最终在高产与低产蜂王浆蜂群间共鉴定得到369个差异表达基因，其中高产蜂王浆蜂群中有201个（占比54.47%）基因表达上调，168个（占比45.53%）基因表达下调。基因本体（GO）富集分析显示，这些差异表达基因主要参与4类关键生物学过程；通路富集分析结果表明，它们共隶属于46条生物学通路。本研究结果为后续解析高产蜂王浆相关分子机制提供了遗传层面的理论基础。