Department of Aquaculture and Animal Sciences, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Aas, Norway.
PLoS One. 2013 Aug 5;8(8):e69870. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0069870. Print 2013.
In a global transcriptome analysis of three natural and three manipulated honeybee worker phenotypes at different ages, we have investigated the distribution of investment in somatic maintenance of the fat body. Gene expression is modulated so that the bees are able to resist the most life-threatening challenges at the actual life stage. Different modes of maintenance and repair are regulated, apparently to meet the environmental challenges most detrimental to survival and reproductive potential for the hive. We observed a broad down-regulation of genomic and cellular maintenance in the short-lived foragers and nurse bees compared to the long-lived winter bees. Our results show that survival and reproduction of the entire hive is given priority over the individual bees, hence supporting the idea of the honeybee society as a superorganism. Our results also fit the disposable soma theory of aging.
在对三个自然和三个人工的不同年龄阶段的蜜蜂工蜂表型的全转录组分析中，我们研究了脂肪体的体细胞维持投资的分布。基因表达受到调节，使蜜蜂能够在实际的生活阶段抵抗最致命的挑战。不同的维持和修复模式受到调节，显然是为了应对对蜂群生存和繁殖潜力最不利的环境挑战。与长寿的冬季蜜蜂相比，我们观察到短命的觅食蜂和保育蜂中基因组和细胞维持的广泛下调。我们的结果表明，整个蜂群的生存和繁殖优先于个体蜜蜂，因此支持了蜜蜂社会作为超级生物体的观点。我们的结果也符合衰老的可丢弃体细胞理论。
