Phenotypic dimorphism between honeybee queen and worker is regulated by complicated epigenetic modifications

Meng Jie Jin; Zi Long Wang; Zhi Hao Wu; Xu Jiang He; Yong Zhang; Qiang Huang; Li Zhen Zhang; Xiao Bo Wu; Wei Yu Yan; Zhi Jiang Zeng

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2023.106308

Phenotypic dimorphism between honeybee queen and worker is regulated by complicated epigenetic modifications

iScience. 2023 Feb 28;26(4):106308. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.106308. eCollection 2023 Apr 21.

Authors

Meng Jie Jin^{1

2}, Zi Long Wang^{1

2}, Zhi Hao Wu^{1

2}, Xu Jiang He^{1

2}, Yong Zhang^{1

2}, Qiang Huang^{1

2}, Li Zhen Zhang^{1

2}, Xiao Bo Wu^{1

2}, Wei Yu Yan^{1

2}, Zhi Jiang Zeng^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Honeybee Research Institute, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, Jiangxi 330045, P.R.China.
² Jiangxi Province Honeybee Biology and Beekeeping, Nanchang, Jiangxi 330045, P. R. China.

Abstract

Phenotypic dimorphism between queens and workers is an important biological characteristic of honeybees that has been the subject of intensive research. The enormous differences in morphology, lifespan, physiology, and behavior between queens and workers are caused by a complicated set of factors. Epigenetic modifications are considered to play an important role in this process. In this study, we analyzed the differences in chromosome interactions and H3K27ac and H3K4me1 modifications between the queens and workers using high-throughput chromosome conformation capture (Hi-C) and Chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by sequencing (ChIP-Seq) technologies. We found that the queens contain more chromosome interactions and more unique H3K27ac modifications than workers; in contrast, workers have more H3K4me1 modifications than queens. Moreover, we identified Map3k15 as a potential caste gene in queen-worker differentiation. Our results suggest that chromosomal conformation and H3K27ac and H3K4me1 modifications are involved in regulating queen-worker differentiation, which reveals that the queen-worker phenotypic dimorphism is regulated by multiple epigenetic modifications.

Keywords: Entomology; Epigenetics; Omics.