Gene expression and epigenetics reveal species-specific mechanisms acting upon common molecular pathways in the evolution of task division in bees

Abstract A striking feature of advanced insect societies is the existence of workers that forgo reproduction. Two broad types of workers exist in eusocial bees: nurses who care for their young siblings and the queen, and foragers who guard the nest and forage for food. Comparisons between these two...

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Autores principales:	Natalia de Souza Araujo, Maria Cristina Arias
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2021
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/f29ecaf1fddb4675aa74f677cf80f31c
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:f29ecaf1fddb4675aa74f677cf80f31c2021-12-02T14:11:29ZGene expression and epigenetics reveal species-specific mechanisms acting upon common molecular pathways in the evolution of task division in bees10.1038/s41598-020-75432-82045-2322https://doaj.org/article/f29ecaf1fddb4675aa74f677cf80f31c2021-02-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-75432-8https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract A striking feature of advanced insect societies is the existence of workers that forgo reproduction. Two broad types of workers exist in eusocial bees: nurses who care for their young siblings and the queen, and foragers who guard the nest and forage for food. Comparisons between these two worker subcastes have been performed in honeybees, but data from other bees are scarce. To understand whether similar molecular mechanisms are involved in nurse-forager differences across distinct species, we compared gene expression and DNA methylation profiles between nurses and foragers of the buff-tailed bumblebee Bombus terrestris and the stingless bee Tetragonisca angustula. These datasets were then compared to previous findings from honeybees. Our analyses revealed that although the expression pattern of genes is often species-specific, many of the biological processes and molecular pathways involved are common. Moreover, the correlation between gene expression and DNA methylation was dependent on the nucleotide context, and non-CG methylation appeared to be a relevant factor in the behavioral changes of the workers. In summary, task specialization in worker bees is characterized by a plastic and mosaic molecular pattern, with species-specific mechanisms acting upon broad common pathways across species.Natalia de Souza AraujoMaria Cristina AriasNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-16 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Natalia de Souza Araujo Maria Cristina Arias Gene expression and epigenetics reveal species-specific mechanisms acting upon common molecular pathways in the evolution of task division in bees
description	Abstract A striking feature of advanced insect societies is the existence of workers that forgo reproduction. Two broad types of workers exist in eusocial bees: nurses who care for their young siblings and the queen, and foragers who guard the nest and forage for food. Comparisons between these two worker subcastes have been performed in honeybees, but data from other bees are scarce. To understand whether similar molecular mechanisms are involved in nurse-forager differences across distinct species, we compared gene expression and DNA methylation profiles between nurses and foragers of the buff-tailed bumblebee Bombus terrestris and the stingless bee Tetragonisca angustula. These datasets were then compared to previous findings from honeybees. Our analyses revealed that although the expression pattern of genes is often species-specific, many of the biological processes and molecular pathways involved are common. Moreover, the correlation between gene expression and DNA methylation was dependent on the nucleotide context, and non-CG methylation appeared to be a relevant factor in the behavioral changes of the workers. In summary, task specialization in worker bees is characterized by a plastic and mosaic molecular pattern, with species-specific mechanisms acting upon broad common pathways across species.
format	article
author	Natalia de Souza Araujo Maria Cristina Arias
author_facet	Natalia de Souza Araujo Maria Cristina Arias
author_sort	Natalia de Souza Araujo
title	Gene expression and epigenetics reveal species-specific mechanisms acting upon common molecular pathways in the evolution of task division in bees
title_short	Gene expression and epigenetics reveal species-specific mechanisms acting upon common molecular pathways in the evolution of task division in bees
title_full	Gene expression and epigenetics reveal species-specific mechanisms acting upon common molecular pathways in the evolution of task division in bees
title_fullStr	Gene expression and epigenetics reveal species-specific mechanisms acting upon common molecular pathways in the evolution of task division in bees
title_full_unstemmed	Gene expression and epigenetics reveal species-specific mechanisms acting upon common molecular pathways in the evolution of task division in bees
title_sort	gene expression and epigenetics reveal species-specific mechanisms acting upon common molecular pathways in the evolution of task division in bees
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/f29ecaf1fddb4675aa74f677cf80f31c
work_keys_str_mv	AT nataliadesouzaaraujo geneexpressionandepigeneticsrevealspeciesspecificmechanismsactinguponcommonmolecularpathwaysintheevolutionoftaskdivisioninbees AT mariacristinaarias geneexpressionandepigeneticsrevealspeciesspecificmechanismsactinguponcommonmolecularpathwaysintheevolutionoftaskdivisioninbees
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Gene expression and epigenetics reveal species-specific mechanisms acting upon common molecular pathways in the evolution of task division in bees

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