Expression of Alpha-glucosidase gene and foraging behavior of Apis cerana
2004
Chanchao, C. | Srimawong, P. | Wongsiri, S.,Chulalongkorn Univ., Bangkok 10330 (Thailand). Dept. of Biology. Faculty of Science
Foraging behavior in honey bees may involve the expression of Alpha glucosidase (Ag). In the study, honey bees at controlled age were collected in two ways. In the first, emerged bees were marked with paint and counted as 0 day. Bees at desired ages were collected during 0-29 days with a time interval of three days. The second was by observing the assignment of duties in a hive. It is possible that foragers can turn into nurse bees if necessary. In the study, crude extract exhibiting Ag activity was obtained. Activity staining of Ag on a triton PAGE gel was assayed by incubating sodium acetate buffer containing sucrose. The results showed that the activity of Ag is high in foragers (from 18-day and 29-day worker bees). The results obtained were the same as that from enzyme assay (Chanchao et.al., 2003). Molecular mass was estimated to be 96 KDa by SDS-PAGE, renaturation, and calibration curve of protein markers. In order to determine the expression of Ag by RT-PCR, primers were designed from the cDNA sequence of Ag in A. mellifera. The cDNA product was sequenced to confirm that there is a homology to Ag gene in A. mellifera. It was found that the expression level of Ag cDNA was high in foragers and that concluded that Ag is one of developmentally regulated genes.
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