Institute of Apicultural Research/Key Laboratory of Pollinating Insect Biology, Ministry of Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science, Beijing, China.
J Proteome Res. 2012 Sep 7;11(9):4526-40. doi: 10.1021/pr300298w. Epub 2012 Aug 2.
The honeybees Apis mellifera ligustica (Aml) and Apis cerana cerana (Acc) are two different western and eastern bee species that evolved in distinct ecologies and developed specific antennal olfactory systems for their survival. Knowledge of how their antennal olfactory systems function in regards to the success of each respective bee species is scarce. We compared the antennal morphology and proteome between respective sexually mature drones and foraging workers of both species using a scanning electron microscope, two-dimensional electrophoresis, mass spectrometry, bioinformatics, and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Despite the general similarities in antennal morphology of the drone and worker bees between the two species, a total of 106 and 100 proteins altered their expression in the drones' and the workers' antennae, respectively. This suggests that the differences in the olfactory function of each respective bee are supported by the change of their proteome. Of the 106 proteins that altered their expression in the drones, 72 (68%) and 34 (32%) were overexpressed in the drones of Aml and Acc, respectively. The antennae of the Aml drones were built up by the highly expressed proteins that were involved in carbohydrate metabolism and energy production, molecular transporters, antioxidation, and fatty acid metabolism in contrast to the Acc drones. This is believed to enhance the antennal olfactory functions of the Aml drones as compared to the Acc drones during their mating flight. Likewise, of the 100 proteins with expression changes between the worker bees of the two species, 67% were expressed in higher levels in the antennae of Aml worker contrasting to 33% in the Acc worker. The overall higher expressions of proteins related to carbohydrate metabolism and energy production, molecular transporters, and antioxidation in the Aml workers compared with the Acc workers indicate the Aml workers require more antennal proteins for their olfactory mechanisms to perform efficient foraging activities than do the Acc worker bees. These data decipher the mechanisms of the western and eastern drone and worker bees acting in response to their different olfactory system in their distinct ecosystem.
意大利蜜蜂（Apis mellifera ligustica，Aml）和中华蜜蜂（Apis cerana cerana，Acc）是两种不同的西方和东方蜜蜂物种，它们在不同的生态环境中进化，并发展出特定的触角嗅觉系统以维持生存。关于它们的触角嗅觉系统在各自物种成功中的作用的知识还很缺乏。我们使用扫描电子显微镜、二维电泳、质谱、生物信息学和实时定量聚合酶链反应比较了两种物种的性成熟雄蜂和采集工蜂的触角形态和蛋白质组。尽管两种物种的雄蜂和工蜂的触角形态一般相似，但在雄蜂和工蜂的触角中，总共有 106 种和 100 种蛋白质的表达发生了变化。这表明，每个物种的嗅觉功能的差异是由其蛋白质组的变化支持的。在雄蜂中表达发生变化的 106 种蛋白质中，Aml 和 Acc 的雄蜂分别有 72 种（68%）和 34 种（32%）表达上调。Aml 雄蜂的触角由高度表达的蛋白质组成，这些蛋白质参与碳水化合物代谢和能量产生、分子转运、抗氧化和脂肪酸代谢，而 Acc 雄蜂的触角则相反。这被认为增强了 Aml 雄蜂在交配飞行中的触角嗅觉功能，与 Acc 雄蜂相比。同样，在两种物种的工蜂之间表达变化的 100 种蛋白质中，有 67%在 Aml 工蜂的触角中表达更高，而在 Acc 工蜂中则有 33%。与 Acc 工蜂相比，Aml 工蜂中与碳水化合物代谢和能量产生、分子转运和抗氧化相关的蛋白质表达总体更高，这表明 Aml 工蜂需要更多的触角蛋白来维持其嗅觉机制，以进行有效的觅食活动。这些数据揭示了西方和东方雄蜂和工蜂在其不同生态系统中对不同嗅觉系统做出反应的机制。
