New insight into molecular mechanisms underlying division of labor in honeybees

Felix Schilcher; Ricarda Scheiner

doi:10.1016/j.cois.2023.101080

New insight into molecular mechanisms underlying division of labor in honeybees

Curr Opin Insect Sci. 2023 Oct:59:101080. doi: 10.1016/j.cois.2023.101080. Epub 2023 Jun 28.

Authors

Felix Schilcher¹, Ricarda Scheiner²

Affiliations

¹ Behavioral Physiology and Sociobiology, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.
² Behavioral Physiology and Sociobiology, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany. Electronic address: ricarda.scheiner@uni-wuerzburg.de.

PMID: 37391163
DOI: 10.1016/j.cois.2023.101080

Abstract

Honeybees are highly organized eusocial insects displaying a distinct division of labor. Juvenile hormone (JH) has long been hypothesized to be the major driver of behavioral transitions. However, more and more experiments in recent years have suggested that the role of this hormone is not as fundamental as hypothesized. Vitellogenin, a common egg yolk precursor protein, seems to be the major regulator of division of labor in honeybees, in connection with nutrition and the neurohormone and transmitter octopamine. Here, we review the role of vitellogenin in controlling honeybee division of labor and its modulation by JH, nutrition, and the catecholamine octopamine.

Publication types

Review