Comprehensive expression data for two honey bee species, Apis mellifera and Apis cerana japonica.

Comprehensive expression datasets were constructed for Apis mellifera and Apis cerana japonica. Firstly, we obtained RNA-Seq data of the samples prepared: post-oviposition day 6 to day 58 samples of A. mellifera workers (larva to adult), and day 9, 10, 12, and 13 samples of A. mellifera queen (larva to pupa), and day 9 to day 18 samples of A. cerana japonica workers (larva to adult). For A. cerana japonica, reference transcript sequence, predicted amino acid sequence, and functional annotation data were generated based on the genome sequence and RNA-Seq data. Using the transcript sequence and RNA-Seq data, comprehensive expression data for all transcripts of A. mellifera and A. cerana japonica were prepared. Hierarchical clustering analyses, the used sample preparation method, and other evaluation results ensured that both sets of expression data were reliable for use as comprehensive reference expression datasets. Therefore, these data can be used for honey bee research or comparative or evolutionary studies on insect species or social insect species at the genetic and molecular levels.