Abstract
The insect fat body is a multifunctional organ analogous to the vertebrate liver. The fat body is involved in the metabolism of juvenile hormone, regulation of environmental stress, production of immunity regulator-like proteins in cells and protein storage. However, very little is known about the molecular mechanisms involved in fat body physiology in stingless bees. In this study, we analyzed the transcriptome of the fat body from the stingless bee Melipona scutellaris. In silico analysis of a set of cDNA library sequences yielded 1728 expressed sequence tags (ESTs) and 997 high-quality sequences that were assembled into 29 contigs and 117 singlets. The BLAST X tool showed that 86% of the ESTs shared similarity with Apis mellifera (honeybee) genes. The M. scutellaris fat body ESTs encoded proteins with roles in numerous physiological processes, including anti-oxidation, phosphorylation, metabolism, detoxification, transmembrane transport, intracellular transport, cell proliferation, protein hydrolysis and protein synthesis. This is the first report to describe a transcriptomic analysis of specific organs of M. scutellaris. Our findings provide new insights into the physiological role of the fat body in stingless bees.
Highlights
The insect fat body is a diffuse organ that fills the body cavity and consists of mesodermal cells known as trophocytes or fat body cells (Arrese and Soulages, 2010; Roma et al, 2010)
The insect fat body is a multifunctional organ with a role in a variety of metabolic processes, including: a) storage of proteins, lipids and carbohydrates, which are precursors for metabolism in other organs, b) regulation of chemical compounds released in the haemolymph, c) synthesis of vitellogenin and d) synthesis of antimicrobial peptides that act in the innate immune response (Cruz-Landim, 1985; Tzou et al, 2002; Andrade et al, 2010, 2011; Ottaviani et al, 2011)
The fat body plays a role in protein synthesis and storage (Ivanova and Staikova, 2007) and, in agreement with this, we found transcripts involved in protein synthesis
Summary
Insights into the Melipona scutellaris (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Meliponini) fat body transcriptome. Cristina Soares de Sousa, José Eduardo Serrão, Ana Maria Bonetti, Isabel Marques Rodrigues Amaral, Warwick Estevam Kerr, Andréa Queiroz Maranhão and Carlos Ueira-Vieira1 1Laboratório de Genética, Instituto de Genética e Bioquímica, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Uberlândia, MG, Brazil. Cristina Soares de Sousa, José Eduardo Serrão, Ana Maria Bonetti, Isabel Marques Rodrigues Amaral, Warwick Estevam Kerr, Andréa Queiroz Maranhão and Carlos Ueira-Vieira1 1Laboratório de Genética, Instituto de Genética e Bioquímica, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Uberlândia, MG, Brazil. 2Departamento de Biologia Geral, Centro de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa, MG, Brazil. 3Departamento de Biologia Celular, Universidade de Brasília, Brasília, DF, Brazil
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