The Western Honey Bee and its twenty sub species have been extensively spread across the planet due to economic benefits relating with pollination and honey production. Honey bees live in colonies and split the division of labor among individuals. There are three castes of Western Honey Bees: Workers, Drones, and Queens (Krell 1996).
Worker bees are non-reproductive females that make up the largest group in the colony. They specialize in the collection of pollen/nectar and feeding the young. Workers produce wax scales on their abdomen that assist in production of wax combs for the colony. Workers can deploy a sting from a barbed stinger that results in their death (Krell 1996).
Drones are the male honey bees. They are slightly larger than workers …show more content…
If a bee is going to become a worker than it will upregulate developmental genes. If it’s going to become a queen then it will up regulate physio- metabolic genes (Foret et.al 2012). Methylation is also able to regulate gene expression by interfering with transcription of genes. For example, it was found that the combination of DNA methylation and histone modifications determine the phenotype of a bee (Foret et.al 2012). Methylation allows alternative splicing of genes (to be further discussed) because the methyl- group is able to select which exons will be used in the final transcription of genes. When methylation is inhibited, it increases the time DNA polymerase II has to elongate and it keeps the chromatin open longer. Increasing the elongation time, allows for more exons to be included in the transcription of genes. However, if hyper methylation takes place then it can silence a gene by not allowing transcription. For instance, it was found that by silencing DNAmethyl-transferase 3 in newly hatched embryos resulted in the majority of the treated individuals emerging from the pupal stage as queens (Foret et al 2012). Not only can methylation silence a gene to produce a different phenotype, it can also increase the evolutionary conservation of genes. This process in honey bees tie directly into alternative
Worker bees are non-reproductive females that make up the largest group in the colony. They specialize in the collection of pollen/nectar and feeding the young. Workers produce wax scales on their abdomen that assist in production of wax combs for the colony. Workers can deploy a sting from a barbed stinger that results in their death (Krell 1996).
Drones are the male honey bees. They are slightly larger than workers …show more content…
If a bee is going to become a worker than it will upregulate developmental genes. If it’s going to become a queen then it will up regulate physio- metabolic genes (Foret et.al 2012). Methylation is also able to regulate gene expression by interfering with transcription of genes. For example, it was found that the combination of DNA methylation and histone modifications determine the phenotype of a bee (Foret et.al 2012). Methylation allows alternative splicing of genes (to be further discussed) because the methyl- group is able to select which exons will be used in the final transcription of genes. When methylation is inhibited, it increases the time DNA polymerase II has to elongate and it keeps the chromatin open longer. Increasing the elongation time, allows for more exons to be included in the transcription of genes. However, if hyper methylation takes place then it can silence a gene by not allowing transcription. For instance, it was found that by silencing DNAmethyl-transferase 3 in newly hatched embryos resulted in the majority of the treated individuals emerging from the pupal stage as queens (Foret et al 2012). Not only can methylation silence a gene to produce a different phenotype, it can also increase the evolutionary conservation of genes. This process in honey bees tie directly into alternative