Social regulation of ageing by young workers in the honey bee, Apis mellifera

dc.contributor.authorEyer, Michael
dc.contributor.authorDainat, Benjamin
dc.contributor.authorNeumann, Peter
dc.contributor.authorDietemann, Vincent
dc.date.accessioned2017-03-29T06:16:15Z
dc.date.available2017-03-29T06:16:15Z
dc.date.issued2017-01
dc.description.abstractOrganisms' lifespans are modulated by both genetic and environmental factors. The lifespan of eusocial insects is determined by features of the division of labor,which itself is influenced by social regulatory mechanisms. In the honey bee, Apis mellifera, the presence of brood and of old workers carrying out foraging tasks are important social drivers of ageing, but the influence of young adult workers is unknown, as it has not been experimentally teased apart from that of brood. In this study,we test the role of young workers in the ageing of their nestmates. We measured the impact of different social contexts characterized by the absence of brood and/or young adults on the lifespan ofworker nestmates in field colonies. To acquire insight into the physiological processes occurring under these contexts, we analyzed the expression of genes known to affect honey bee ageing. The data showed that young workers significantly reduced the lifespan of nestmate workers, similar to the effect of brood on its own. Differential expression of vitellogenin,major royal jelly protein-1, andmethylase transferase, but not methyl farneosate epoxidase genes suggests that young workers and brood influence ageing of adult nestmate workers via different physiological pathways.We identify young workers as an essential part of the social regulation of ageing in honey bee colonies.en_ZA
dc.description.departmentZoology and Entomologyen_ZA
dc.description.librarianam2017en_ZA
dc.description.sponsorshipThe Sur-La-Croix Foundation provided financial support to ME, while the Vinetum Foundation provided such support to both ME and PN.en_ZA
dc.description.urihttp://www.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo/issn/0531-5565/en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationEyer, M, Dainat, B, Neumann, P & Dietemann, V 2017, 'Social regulation of ageing by young workers in the honey bee, Apis mellifera', Experimental Gerontology, vol. 87, pp. 84-91.en_ZA
dc.identifier.issn0531-5565 (print)
dc.identifier.issn1873-6815 (online)
dc.identifier.other10.1016/j.exger.2016.11.006
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2263/59560
dc.language.isoenen_ZA
dc.publisherElsevieren_ZA
dc.rights© 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license.en_ZA
dc.subjectLifespanen_ZA
dc.subjectAgeingen_ZA
dc.subjectColony demographyen_ZA
dc.subjectYoung workersen_ZA
dc.subjectRegulatory mechanismsen_ZA
dc.subjectGene expressionen_ZA
dc.subjectHoneybee (Apis mellifera)en_ZA
dc.titleSocial regulation of ageing by young workers in the honey bee, Apis melliferaen_ZA
dc.typeArticleen_ZA

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