PDF(Pubmed)
Abstract：
Maternal effects are an evolutionary strategy used to improve offspring quality. In an example of maternal effects in honey bees (Apis mellifera), mother queens produce larger eggs in queen cells than in worker cells in order to breed better daughter queens. In our current study, morphological indexes, reproductive tissues, and the egg-laying ability of newly reared queens reared with eggs laid in queen cells (QE), eggs laid in worker cells (WE), and 2-day-old larvae in worker cells (2L) were evaluated. In addition, morphological indexes of offspring queens and working performance of offspring workers were examined. The thorax weight, number of ovarioles, egg length, and number of laid eggs and capped broods of QE were significantly higher than those of WE and 2L, indicating that the reproductive capacity of QE group was better than that of other groups. Furthermore, offspring queens from QE had larger thorax weights and sizes than those from the other two groups. Offspring worker bees from QE also had larger body sizes and greater pollen-collecting and royal jelly-producing abilities than those of other two groups. These results demonstrate that honey bees display profound maternal effects on queen quality that can be transmitted across generations. These findings provide a basis for improving queen quality, with implications in apicultural and agricultural production.
摘要：
母体效应是一种用于提高后代质量的进化策略。在蜜蜂（Apismellifera）的母体影响的例子中，母亲皇后在皇后细胞中比在工人细胞中产生更大的卵，以便繁殖出更好的女儿皇后。在我们目前的研究中,形态学指标，生殖组织，以及用皇后细胞（QE）产卵饲养的新饲养的皇后的产卵能力，产卵在工人细胞（WE），并对工作细胞（2L）中的2日龄幼虫进行了评估。此外,研究了后代皇后的形态指标和后代工人的工作表现。胸部重量，卵巢数目,鸡蛋长度,QE的产卵和带帽育种数明显高于WE和2L，说明QE组的生殖能力优于其他组。此外，与其他两组相比，来自QE的后代皇后的胸部重量和大小更大。与其他两组相比，来自QE的后代工蜂的体型更大，花粉收集和蜂王浆产生能力更强。这些结果表明，蜜蜂对女王的质量表现出深远的影响，这种影响可以跨代传播。这些发现为提高女王质量提供了依据,对养蜂业和农业生产有影响。
