Roat Thaisa Cristina, Nocelli Roberta Cornélio Ferreira, da Cruz Landim Carminda
UNESP - Universidade Estadual Paulista Júlio de Mesquita Filho, Campus Rio Claro, Departamento de Biologia, Instituto de Biociências, São Paulo, Brazil.
Micron. 2006;37(8):717-23. doi: 10.1016/j.micron.2006.03.005. Epub 2006 Mar 29.
The venom gland of queens of Apis mellifera was examined through light and transmission electron microscopy and subjected to electrophoretic analyses. Virgin queens exhibited prismatic secretory cells containing large amounts of rough endoplasmic reticulum with dilated cisternae, open secretory spaces, numerous vacuoles and granules scattered in the cytoplasm, and spherical nuclei with numerous nucleoli. The secretion produced was non-refringent under polarized light and the electrophoretic analysis of glandular extracts revealed five main protein bands. In mated queens, the venom gland exhibited a high degree of degeneration. Its secretion was refringent under polarized light and one of the main bands was absent in the electrophoretic pattern obtained. The morphological aspects observed are in agreement with the function of this gland in queens, given that virgin queens use venom in battles for the dominance of the colony, a situation that occurs as soon as they emerge, while fertilized queens rarely use venom.
通过光学显微镜和透射电子显微镜对意大利蜜蜂蜂王的毒腺进行了检查，并进行了电泳分析。未交配的蜂王表现出棱柱形分泌细胞，含有大量粗面内质网，其池扩张，有开放的分泌空间，细胞质中有许多分散的液泡和颗粒，以及有许多核仁的球形细胞核。所产生的分泌物在偏振光下无折射现象，对腺体提取物的电泳分析显示有五条主要蛋白带。在已交配的蜂王中，毒腺呈现出高度退化。其分泌物在偏振光下有折射现象，并且在所获得的电泳图谱中缺少一条主要带。鉴于未交配的蜂王在争夺蜂群主导权的战斗中使用毒液，这种情况在它们一出现就会发生，而受精的蜂王很少使用毒液，所观察到的形态学方面与该腺体在蜂王中的功能相符。
