Differential expression of miRNAs related to caste differentiation in the honey bee, Apis mellifera

Abstract

Honey bees are very important eusocial insects and are involved in the pollination of many plants. Queen bees and worker bees can develop from the same fertilized eggs and are thus genetically identical despite their substantial behavioral and physiological differences. The mechanism governing developmental differences between worker and queen bees has always attracted much interest. While there are several reports on messenger RNA (mRNA) expression related to caste differentiation or microRNA (miRNA) expression in one time point of caste differentiation, no systematic investigation of the dynamic expression of small RNAs along with these two caste development has, thus far, been carried out. In this study, we present the dynamic expression profiles of queen and worker bee small RNAs and show caste-specific miRNA expression patterns between them, indicating that miRNAs may be related to the differential development of worker and queen bee larvae. Results presented here will make a valuable contribution to understanding of the caste switch between worker and queen bees.