Molecular insights into the enhanced performance of royal jelly secretion by a stock of honeybee (Apis mellifera ligustica) selected for increasing royal jelly production

Abstract

The genetic selection of a high royal jelly (RJ)-producing strain of bees (RJBs) from Italian bees (ITBs) has been conducted for nearly four decades in China since the 1980s. RJBs are the most important producers of RJ in the world and produce > 90% of the total output with an annual market value of > $40 million. With technological advancements in proteomics, the mechanism underpinning the high RJ production by RJBs has been explored to new depths in the last decades. Here, we give an overview that the mechanism driving the enhanced performance of RJ secretion by RJBs. First, the selection of RJBs, high-efficiency technology for RJ production, and advances in genetic characterization of RJBs are reviewed. Then, proteome and phosphoproteome characterization that decipher the augmented RJ production using honeybee organs and tissues are summarized. This may be potentially useful in gaining a complete mechanistic insight into the high performance of RJ yields in honeybees, and expands understanding of the honeybee biology. Italian bees / royal jelly bees / royal jelly production / molecular basis-proteome

Mitochondrial genomes illuminate the evolutionary history of the Western honey bee (Apis mellifera)

“…A reliable backbone phylogeny of the Western honey bee would allow apidologists to study the evolution of economically important traits in this species and the basis of its adaptation to different environmental conditions 19 . Although more gene sequences from across the entire native range of A. mellifera are available now than ever before 20 , a number of long-standing questions has still not been answered.…”

The Emerging Proteomic Research Facilitates in-Depth Understanding of the Biology of Honeybees

“…The different organs and tissues that are required for honeybees to perform their biological tasks have been explained at proteomic scale, for instance, in the brain [15,18,19,20,21], hypopharyngeal gland (HG) [22,23], mandibular gland (MG) [24], hemolymph [25,26], embryo [27,28], venom [29,30,31], antennae [16,32], and long-term storage adaptation of honeybee sperm [33,34,35,36,37]. In addition, in recent years, extensive research has been conducted to reveal the molecular underpinnings for the enhanced performance of HG in secretion of royal jelly (RJ) by a honeybee stock: royal jelly bees (RJBs), that has been selected for increasing royal jelly production [17,23,38]. Detailed descriptions of how emergent proteomics research contributed to the new understanding of honeybee biology are given in the following sections.…”

“…Recently, >8600 proteins were also identified across samples of the hemolymph, mushroom body, and antenna of honeybees using the LC-MS/MS method, which has considerably improved the depth of the protein coverage [16]. At the current stage, there is a wide range of insight into the molecular basis of social behaviour and physiology of honeybees [5,17]…”

New Insights into the Biological and Pharmaceutical Properties of Royal Jelly

“…Beekeepers have made great efforts to develop the technique to improve RJ production and to select for high-producing strains of honeybees. For instance, the increase in the production of RJ in China over the last 40 years has been achieved by the development of genetic selection of high RJ-producing bees (RJBs) from Italian bees [11][12][13], and the development and implementation of production techniques to increase and optimize RJ production [14][15][16]. At present RJBs have the potential to produce more than 10 kg RJ/colony/year, which is 10 times more than for non-selected Italian bees [15][16][17][18].…”