Abstract:
Honeybees have been studied for centuries, starting
with Aristotle, who wrote the first book about bee
breeding. More than 2000 years later, the honeybee
entered the genomic era as the first social insect whose
genome was sequenced, leading to significant insight
into the molecular mechanisms underlying social behavior.
In addition, gene expression studies and knockdown
using RNAi have extended the understanding of social
interactions. Much of the work has focused on caste
determination – the mechanism that results in reproductive
division of labor, division of labor within the worker
caste, and worker reproduction – an essential process
underlying eusociality. Here we review the molecular
factors involved in caste determination and the differential
regulation of caste-specific genes. Recent findings
suggest that division of labor is influenced by a small
number of loci showing high levels of pleiotropy, suggesting
that changes in a small number of genes lead to
large changes in the phenotype.
