Key Laboratory for Insect-Pollinator Biology of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Institute of Apicultural Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100093, China.
College of Animal Science and Technology, Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming 650000, China.
J Insect Sci. 2021 Sep 1;21(5). doi: 10.1093/jisesa/ieab078.
Hexamerins are members of the hemocyanin superfamily and play essential roles in providing amino acids and energy for the nonfeeding stages of insects. In this study, we cloned and analyzed the expression patterns of four hexamerin genes (hex 70a, hex 70b, hex 70c, and hex 110) at different worker development stages and queen diapause statuses in the bumble bee, Bombus terrestris. The results of this study showed that hex 110 has the longest open reading frame (ORF; 3,297 bp) compared to the ORFs of hex 70a (2,034 bp), hex 70b (2,067 bp), and hex 70c (2,055 bp). The putative translation product of Hex 70a, Hex 70b, Hex70c, and Hex 110 has 677, 688, 684, and 1,098aa with predicted molecular mass of 81.13, 79.69, 81.58, and 119 kDa. In the development stages of workers, the expression levels of hex 70a, hex 70b, and hex 70c increased gradually from the larval stage and exhibited high expression levels at the pink eyed and brown eyed pupae stage, whereas hex 110 exhibited the highest expression level at the larval period. Four hexamerin genes were highly expressed at the prediapause status of queen (P < 0.05), and compared to the eclosion queen, the lowest upregulation was 3.7-fold, and the highest upregulation was 1,742-fold. The expression levels of hex 70b, hex 70c, and hex 110 at diapause were significantly higher than those at postdiapause (P < 0.05). In conclusion, hexamerins may play important roles in queen diapause and metamorphosis of larval and pupal stages.
六聚体蛋白是血蓝蛋白超家族的成员，在为昆虫的非摄食阶段提供氨基酸和能量方面发挥着重要作用。在这项研究中，我们克隆并分析了熊蜂（Bombus terrestris）不同工蜂发育阶段和蜂王滞育状态下的四个六聚体蛋白基因（hex 70a、hex 70b、hex 70c 和 hex 110）的表达模式。研究结果表明，与 hex 70a（2,034 bp）、hex 70b（2,067 bp）和 hex 70c（2,055 bp）的开放阅读框（ORF）相比，hex 110 具有最长的 ORF（3,297 bp）。Hex 70a、Hex 70b、Hex70c 和 Hex 110 的假定翻译产物分别具有 677、688、684 和 1,098aa，预测分子量分别为 81.13、79.69、81.58 和 119 kDa。在工蜂发育阶段，hex 70a、hex 70b 和 hex 70c 的表达水平从幼虫期逐渐升高，并在粉红色和棕色蛹期表现出高表达水平，而 hex 110 在幼虫期表达水平最高。四个六聚体蛋白基因在蜂王滞育状态下高度表达（P < 0.05），与出房蜂王相比，最低上调倍数为 3.7 倍，最高上调倍数为 1,742 倍。hex 70b、hex 70c 和 hex 110 在滞育期的表达水平显著高于滞育后（P < 0.05）。总之，六聚体蛋白可能在蜂王滞育和幼虫及蛹期的变态过程中发挥重要作用。
