Abstract
BackgroundThe honey bee (Apis mellifera) is a highly diverse species commonly used for honey production and pollination services. The oviposition of the honey bee queen affects the development and overall performance of the colony. To investigate the ovary activation and oviposition processes on a molecular level, a genome-wide analysis of lncRNAs, miRNAs and mRNA expression in the ovaries of the queens was performed to screen for differentially expressed coding and noncoding RNAs. Further analysis identified relevant candidate genes or RNAs.ResultsThe analysis of the RNA profiles in different oviposition phase of the queens revealed that 740 lncRNAs, 81 miRNAs and 5,481 mRNAs were differently expressed during the ovary activation; 88 lncRNAs, 13 miRNAs and 338 mRNAs were differently expressed during the oviposition inhibition process; and finally, 100 lncRNAs, four miRNAs and 497 mRNAs were differently expressed during the oviposition recovery process. In addition, functional annotation of differentially expressed RNAs revealed several pathways that are closely related to oviposition, including hippo, MAPK, notch, Wnt, mTOR, TGF-beta and FoxO signaling pathways. Furthermore, in the QTL region for ovary size, 73 differentially expressed genes and 14 differentially expressed lncRNAs were located, which are considered as candidate genes affecting ovary size and oviposition. Moreover, a core set of genes served as bridges among different miRNAs were identified through the integrated analysis of lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA network.ConclusionThe observed dramatic expression changes of coding and noncoding RNAs suggest that they may play a critical role in honey bee queens’ oviposition. The identified candidate genes for oviposition activation and regulation could serve as a resource for further studies of genetic markers of oviposition in honey bees.
Highlights
The honey bee (Apis mellifera) is a highly diverse species commonly used for honey production and pollination services
Differentially expressed (DE) long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), mRNAs and miRNAs were discriminated between different groups (Table 1 and Table S2)
A total of 740 lncRNAs, 5481 mRNAs and 81 miRNAs were differentially expressed in ovary activation process
Summary
The honey bee (Apis mellifera) is a highly diverse species commonly used for honey production and pollination services. With the development of molecular technologies, new approaches applied to improve reproductive traits and other complex traits, such as marker-assisted selection (MAS) and genomic selection (Kramarenko et al, 2014; Spötter et al, 2012). These methods have been widely used in domestic animals for years. To investigate the ovary activation and oviposition processes on a molecular level, a genome-wide analysis of lncRNAs, miRNAs and mRNA expression in the ovaries of the queens was performed to screen for differentially expressed coding and noncoding RNAs. Further analysis identified relevant candidate genes or RNAs. Results. The identified candidate genes for oviposition activation and regulation could serve as a resource for further studies of genetic markers of oviposition in honey bees
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