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Histone deacetylase inhibitor activity in royal jelly might facilitate caste switching in bees
Author(s) -
Spannhoff Astrid,
Kim Yong Kee,
Raynal Noel J M,
Gharibyan Vazganush,
Su MingBo,
Zhou YueYang,
Li Jia,
Castellano Sabrina,
Sbardella Gianluca,
Issa JeanPierre J,
Bedford Mark T
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
embo reports
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.584
H-Index - 184
eISSN - 1469-3178
pISSN - 1469-221X
DOI - 10.1038/embor.2011.9
Subject(s) - royal jelly , worker bee , biology , epigenetics , histone deacetylase , histone deacetylase inhibitor , queen (butterfly) , honey bees , honey bee , histone , microbiology and biotechnology , genetics , zoology , gene , hymenoptera , botany
Worker and queen bees are genetically indistinguishable. However, queen bees are fertile, larger and have a longer lifespan than their female worker counterparts. Differential feeding of larvae with royal jelly controls this caste switching. There is emerging evidence that the queen‐bee phenotype is driven by epigenetic mechanisms. In this study, we show that royal jelly—the secretion produced by the hypopharyngeal and mandibular glands of worker bees—has histone deacetylase inhibitor (HDACi) activity. A fatty acid, ( E )‐10‐hydroxy‐2‐decenoic acid (10HDA), which accounts for up to 5% of royal jelly, harbours this HDACi activity. Furthermore, 10HDA can reactivate the expression of epigenetically silenced genes in mammalian cells. Thus, the epigenetic regulation of queen‐bee development is probably driven, in part, by HDACi activity in royal jelly.