Nutritional Control of Reproductive Status in Honeybees via DNA Methylation.

@article{citeulike:2601345, abstract = {Fertile queens and sterile workers are alternative forms of the adult female honey bee that develop from genetically identical larvae following differential feeding with royal jelly. We now show that silencing the expression of DNA methyltransferase Dnmt3, a key driver of epigenetic global reprogramming, in newly hatched larvae, leads to a stunning royal jelly-like effect on the larval developmental trajectory; the majority of Dnmt3 siRNA-treated individuals now emerge as queens with fully developed ovaries. Our results suggest that; DNA methylation in Apis is utilized for storing epigenetic information; that the utilization of that information can be differentially altered by nutritional input, and that the flexibility of epigenetic modifications underpin profound shifts in developmental fates with massive implications for reproductive and behavioural status.}, address = {Molecular Genetics and Evolution, ARC Centre for the Molecular Genetics of Development, Research School of Biological Sciences, the Australian National University, Canberra ACT 0200, Australia.}, author = {Kucharski, R and Maleszka, J and Foret, S and Maleszka, R }, citeulike-article-id = {2601345}, doi = {10.1126/science.1153069}, issn = {1095-9203}, journal = {Science}, keywords = {development, insect, sociality}, month = {March}, posted-at = {2008-04-09 18:22:37}, priority = {2}, title = {Nutritional Control of Reproductive Status in Honeybees via DNA Methylation.}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1153069}, year = {2008} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:2601345 L3 - citeulike-article-id:2601345 TI - Nutritional Control of Reproductive Status in Honeybees via DNA Methylation. JF - Science AD - Molecular Genetics and Evolution, ARC Centre for the Molecular Genetics of Development, Research School of Biological Sciences, the Australian National University, Canberra ACT 0200, Australia. SN - 1095-9203 N2 - Fertile queens and sterile workers are alternative forms of the adult female honey bee that develop from genetically identical larvae following differential feeding with royal jelly. We now show that silencing the expression of DNA methyltransferase Dnmt3, a key driver of epigenetic global reprogramming, in newly hatched larvae, leads to a stunning royal jelly-like effect on the larval developmental trajectory; the majority of Dnmt3 siRNA-treated individuals now emerge as queens with fully developed ovaries. Our results suggest that; DNA methylation in Apis is utilized for storing epigenetic information; that the utilization of that information can be differentially altered by nutritional input, and that the flexibility of epigenetic modifications underpin profound shifts in developmental fates with massive implications for reproductive and behavioural status. KW - development KW - insect KW - sociality AU - Kucharski, R AU - Maleszka, J AU - Foret, S AU - Maleszka, R PY - 2008/03/13/ UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1153069 ER -