Transcriptome analysis reveals nutrition- and age-related patterns of gene expression in the fat body of pre-overwintering bumble bee queens
Transcriptome analysis reveals nutrition- and age-related patterns of gene expression in the fat body of pre-overwintering bumble bee queens
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DOI：
10.1111/mec.15361
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发表时间：
2020-02-11
影响因子：
4.9
通讯作者：
Woodard, S. Hollis
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Costa, Claudineia P.;Duennes, Michelle A.;Woodard, S. Hollis
许多滞育昆虫在进入滞育之前都要经历一段营养储存期。成年大黄蜂蜂王在春季筑巢期之前的冬季进行滞育。在滞育之前，它们将糖原和脂质封存起来，并在越冬期间进行代谢。我们使用RNA测序来研究年龄和花蜜饮食（特别是花蜜中蔗糖的浓度）如何影响大黄蜂后越冬前脂肪体中的基因表达，大黄蜂是昆虫中具有与营养储存和代谢相关的广泛功能的“肝脏”器官。我们发现，饮食本身，以及与年龄相结合，会影响与解毒有关的基因的表达。年龄也是基因表达的一个强大驱动因素，特别是在较早的年龄（3天）。除了这些饮食和年龄的分子相关性之外，基于我们的数据集和另一个来自大黄蜂女王的转录组数据集的比较，我们还发现了在喂食最富含蔗糖的饮食的最大年龄组（12天）的成年蜂王中进入或准备滞育的假定分子特征。这种转录组学模式表明，蜂王准备（或进入）滞育可能在一定程度上受营养状况的调节。总的来说，这些发现表明，脂肪体中存在对饮食中的蔗糖水平有反应的分子过程和/或与年龄相关的成熟变化有关。更好地理解这些过程可能会揭示大黄蜂生物学的重要方面，比如蜂王对营养和其他形式的压力的反应，以及调节它们进入滞育的因素。
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.