Laboratorio de Insectos Sociales, Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias (IFIBYNE), Universidad de Buenos Aires-CONICET, CABA C1428EGA, Argentina.
Laboratorio de Insectos Sociales, Departamento de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, CABA C1428EGA, Argentina.
G3 (Bethesda). 2024 May 7;14(5). doi: 10.1093/g3journal/jkae060.
Reception of chemical information from the environment is crucial for insects' survival and reproduction. The chemosensory reception mainly occurs by the antennae and mouth parts of the insect, when the stimulus contacts the chemoreceptors located within the sensilla. Chemosensory receptor genes have been well-studied in some social hymenopterans such as ants, honeybees, and wasps. However, although stingless bees are the most representative group of eusocial bees, little is known about their odorant, gustatory, and ionotropic receptor genes. Here, we analyze the transcriptome of the proboscis and antennae of the stingless bee Tetragonisca fiebrigi. We identified and annotated 9 gustatory and 15 ionotropic receptors. Regarding the odorant receptors, we identified 204, and we were able to annotate 161 of them. In addition, we compared the chemosensory receptor genes of T. fiebrigi with those annotated for other species of Hymenoptera. We found that T. fiebrigi showed the largest number of odorant receptors compared with other bees. Genetic expansions were identified in the subfamilies 9-exon, which was also expanded in ants and paper wasps; in G02A, including receptors potentially mediating social behavior; and in GUnC, which has been related to pollen and nectar scent detection. Our study provides the first report of chemosensory receptor genes in T. fiebrigi and represents a resource for future molecular and physiological research in this and other stingless bee species.
昆虫对环境中化学信息的接收对于其生存和繁殖至关重要。化学感受主要通过昆虫的触角和口器发生，当刺激物接触到位于感器内的化学感受器时。在一些社会性膜翅目昆虫（如蚂蚁、蜜蜂和黄蜂）中，化学感受受体基因已经得到了很好的研究。然而，尽管无刺蜜蜂是最具代表性的社会性蜜蜂群体之一，但人们对它们的气味、味觉和离子型受体基因知之甚少。在这里，我们分析了无刺蜜蜂 Tetragonisca fiebrigi 口器和触角的转录组。我们鉴定并注释了 9 个味觉和 15 个离子型受体。关于气味受体，我们鉴定了 204 个，其中 161 个可以注释。此外，我们比较了 T. fiebrigi 的化学感受受体基因与其他膜翅目物种的注释基因。我们发现，与其他蜜蜂相比，T. fiebrigi 表现出最大数量的气味受体。在 9 外显子亚家族中发现了遗传扩张，该亚家族在蚂蚁和纸蜂中也有扩张；在 G02A 亚家族中，包括潜在介导社会行为的受体；在 GUnC 亚家族中，与花粉和花蜜气味检测有关。我们的研究首次报道了 T. fiebrigi 的化学感受受体基因，为该物种和其他无刺蜜蜂的未来分子和生理研究提供了资源。
