Park Doori, Jung Je Won, Choi Beom-Soon, Jayakodi Murukarthick, Lee Jeongsoo, Lim Jongsung, Yu Yeisoo, Choi Yong-Soo, Lee Myeong-Lyeol, Park Yoonseong, Choi Ik-Young, Yang Tae-Jin, Edwards Owain R, Nah Gyoungju, Kwon Hyung Wook
Biomodulation Major, Department of Agricultural Biotechnology and Research Institute of Agriculture and Life Sciences, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-921, Republic of Korea.
BMC Genomics. 2015 Jan 2;16(1):1. doi: 10.1186/1471-2164-16-1.
The honey bee is an important model system for increasing understanding of molecular and neural mechanisms underlying social behaviors relevant to the agricultural industry and basic science. The western honey bee, Apis mellifera, has served as a model species, and its genome sequence has been published. In contrast, the genome of the Asian honey bee, Apis cerana, has not yet been sequenced. A. cerana has been raised in Asian countries for thousands of years and has brought considerable economic benefits to the apicultural industry. A cerana has divergent biological traits compared to A. mellifera and it has played a key role in maintaining biodiversity in eastern and southern Asia. Here we report the first whole genome sequence of A. cerana.
Using de novo assembly methods, we produced a 238 Mbp draft of the A. cerana genome and generated 10,651 genes. A.cerana-specific genes were analyzed to better understand the novel characteristics of this honey bee species. Seventy-two percent of the A. cerana-specific genes had more than one GO term, and 1,696 enzymes were categorized into 125 pathways. Genes involved in chemoreception and immunity were carefully identified and compared to those from other sequenced insect models. These included 10 gustatory receptors, 119 odorant receptors, 10 ionotropic receptors, and 160 immune-related genes.
This first report of the whole genome sequence of A. cerana provides resources for comparative sociogenomics, especially in the field of social insect communication. These important tools will contribute to a better understanding of the complex behaviors and natural biology of the Asian honey bee and to anticipate its future evolutionary trajectory.
蜜蜂是一个重要的模型系统，有助于增进我们对与农业产业和基础科学相关的社会行为背后的分子和神经机制的理解。西方蜜蜂（Apis mellifera）一直是一种模式物种，其基因组序列已公布。相比之下，亚洲蜜蜂（Apis cerana）的基因组尚未测序。亚洲蜜蜂在亚洲国家已饲养了数千年，并给养蜂业带来了可观的经济效益。与西方蜜蜂相比，亚洲蜜蜂具有不同的生物学特性，并且在维持东亚和南亚的生物多样性方面发挥了关键作用。在此，我们报告亚洲蜜蜂的首个全基因组序列。
我们使用从头组装方法，生成了亚洲蜜蜂基因组238兆碱基对的草图，并鉴定出10,651个基因。对亚洲蜜蜂特有的基因进行了分析，以更好地了解这种蜜蜂物种的新特性。亚洲蜜蜂特有的基因中有72%具有不止一个基因本体（GO）术语，并且1,696种酶被归类到125条代谢途径中。仔细鉴定了参与化学感受和免疫的基因，并与其他已测序昆虫模型的基因进行了比较。这些基因包括10个味觉受体、119个气味受体、10个离子型受体和160个免疫相关基因。
亚洲蜜蜂全基因组序列的首次报告为比较社会基因组学提供了资源，特别是在社会昆虫通讯领域。这些重要工具将有助于更好地理解亚洲蜜蜂的复杂行为和自然生物学特性，并预测其未来的进化轨迹。
