Allele specific expression in worker reproduction genes in the bumblebee Bombus terrestris

Harindra E Amarasinghe; Bradley J Toghill; Despina Nathanael; Eamonn B Mallon

doi:10.7717/peerj.1079

Allele specific expression in worker reproduction genes in the bumblebee Bombus terrestris

PeerJ. 2015 Jul 14:3:e1079. doi: 10.7717/peerj.1079. eCollection 2015.

Authors

Harindra E Amarasinghe^#¹, Bradley J Toghill^#², Despina Nathanael¹, Eamonn B Mallon¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biology, University of Leicester, UK.
² Department of Cardiovascular Sciences, University of Leicester, UK.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Methylation has previously been associated with allele specific expression in ants. Recently, we found methylation is important in worker reproduction in the bumblebee Bombus terrestris. Here we searched for allele specific expression in twelve genes associated with worker reproduction in bees. We found allele specific expression in Ecdysone 20 monooxygenase and IMP-L2-like. Although we were unable to confirm a genetic or epigenetic cause for this allele specific expression, the expression patterns of the two genes match those predicted for imprinted genes.

Keywords: Ecdysone; Epigenetics; Hymenoptera; Social insect.

Grants and funding

This work was financially supported by NERC grant no. NE/H010408/1 to EBM. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.