Hu Y-T, Tang C-K, Wu C-P, Wu P-C, Yang E-C, Tai C-C, Wu Y-L
Department of Entomology, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
Insect Mol Biol. 2018 Aug;27(4):512-521. doi: 10.1111/imb.12390. Epub 2018 Apr 25.
Apis mellifera plays crucial roles in maintaining the balance of global ecosystems and stability of agricultural systems by helping pollination of flowering plants, including many crops. In recent years, this balance has been disrupted greatly by some pesticides, which results in great losses of honeybees worldwide. Previous studies have found that pesticide-caused memory loss might be one of the major reasons for colony loss. Histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACis) are chemical compounds that inhibit the activity of histone deacetylases and are known to cause hyperacetylation of histone cores and influence gene expression. In our study, the HDACi sodium butyrate was applied to honeybees as a dietary supplement. The effect of sodium butyrate on the expression profiles of memory-related genes was analysed by quantitative reverse transcription PCR. The results revealed that this HDACi had up-regulation effects on most of the memory-related genes in bees, even in bees treated with imidacloprid. In addition, using the proboscis extension reflex to evaluate olfactory learning in bees, we found that this HDACi boosted the memory formation of bees after impairment owing to imidacloprid exposure. This study investigated the association between gene expression and memory formation from an epigenetic perspective. Additionally, we further demonstrate the possibility of enhancing bee learning using HDACis and provide initial data for future research.
蜜蜂在维持全球生态系统平衡和农业系统稳定方面发挥着关键作用，它能帮助包括许多农作物在内的开花植物授粉。近年来，这种平衡受到了一些农药的严重破坏，导致全球蜜蜂大量损失。此前的研究发现，农药导致的记忆丧失可能是蜂群损失的主要原因之一。组蛋白去乙酰化酶抑制剂（HDACis）是一类抑制组蛋白去乙酰化酶活性的化合物，已知会导致组蛋白核心的超乙酰化并影响基因表达。在我们的研究中，HDACi丁酸钠被用作蜜蜂的膳食补充剂。通过定量逆转录PCR分析丁酸钠对记忆相关基因表达谱的影响。结果显示，这种HDACi对蜜蜂中大多数记忆相关基因有上调作用，即使是在用吡虫啉处理过的蜜蜂中也是如此。此外，利用喙伸反射来评估蜜蜂的嗅觉学习能力，我们发现这种HDACi在蜜蜂因接触吡虫啉而受损后促进了其记忆形成。本研究从表观遗传学角度探讨了基因表达与记忆形成之间的关联。此外，我们进一步证明了使用HDACis增强蜜蜂学习能力的可能性，并为未来的研究提供了初步数据。
