Division of labor within a honey bee colony creates a codependence between bees performing different tasks. The most obvious example of this is between the reproductive queen and worker bees. Queen bees lay 1,000 or more eggs a day, while young worker bees tend and feed queens. Young workers and queens can be exposed to pesticides when foragers return to the hive with contaminated resources. Previous research has found negative effects of larval exposure to insect-grown disruptors (IGD) methoxyfenozide and pyriproxyfen, on adult responsiveness to artificial queen pheromone. The present work investigates potential physiological and molecular mechanisms underpinning this behavioral change by examining the development of hypopharyngeal glands and ovaries as well as the expression of genes related to reproduction and worker endocrine signaling in the brain and hypopharyngeal gland tissues. Though hypopharyngeal gland and ovary development were not altered by developmental exposure to IGDs, gene expression differed. Specifically, in the brain tissue, ilp1 was downregulated in bees exposed to pyriproxyfen during development, and Kr-h1 was downregulated in both methoxyfenozide- and pyriproxyfen-exposed bees. In the hypopharyngeal glands, Kr-h1, EcR-A, EcR-B, and E75 were upregulated in honey bees exposed to methoxyfenozide compared to those in the pyriproxyfen or control treatments. Here we discuss these results and their potential implications for the health and performance of honey bee colonies.

中文翻译：

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发育过程中接触模拟激素的昆虫生长干扰物会改变工蜂（膜翅目：蜜蜂科）大脑和下咽腺中内分泌相关基因的表达

蜂群内的劳动分工在执行不同任务的蜜蜂之间造成了相互依​​赖。最明显的例子是繁殖蜂王和工蜂之间。蜂王每天产下 1,000 个或更多的卵，而年轻的工蜂则负责照料和喂养蜂王。当采食者带着受污染的资源返回蜂巢时，年轻的工蜂和蜂后可能会接触到杀虫剂。先前的研究发现，幼虫接触昆虫生长干扰剂（IGD）甲氧虫酰肼和吡丙醚会对成虫对人工蜂王信息素的反应产生负面影响。目前的工作通过检查下咽腺和卵巢的发育以及大脑和下咽腺组织中与生殖和工人内分泌信号相关的基因的表达来研究支撑这种行为变化的潜在生理和分子机制。尽管下咽腺和卵巢发育并未因发育暴露于IGD而改变，但基因表达有所不同。具体来说，在发育过程中暴露于吡丙醚的蜜蜂的脑组织中，ilp1 表达下调，而在甲氧虫酰肼和吡丙醚暴露的蜜蜂中，Kr-h1 表达下调。在下咽腺中，与吡丙醚或对照处理相比，暴露于甲氧虫酰肼的蜜蜂的 Kr-h1、EcR-A、EcR-B 和 E75 表达上调。在这里，我们讨论这些结果及其对蜂群健康和性能的潜在影响。