Effect of Gene Silencing without changing Nutritional Input on Honeybees
In an article captioned, "Nutritional Control of Reproductive Status in Honey- bees, via DNA Methylation,” published in the 28th March edition of Science, vol. 319:1827-30,
R. Kucharski, J. Maleszka, S. Foret and R. Maleszka have shown that adult honeybees can be
induced to develop into queens with fully developed ovaries by silencing the expression of DNA
methyltransferase Dnmt3. Their findings reveal that in honeybees (Apis mellifera)), it is
possible to direct the development of an individual of the same genetic makeup into a honeybee by
silencing DNA methyltransferase (Dnmt3), which stores epigenetic information. The above authors
have shown that the information as encoded by DNA blueprint can be altered by gene silencing that
mimicked the effects of royal jelly on the development of larva from its early stages. When Dnmt3
expression was reduced, the effect was dramatic. Even in the absence of royal jelly, larvae developed
into queens rather than into workers i.e., almost the same effect was observed as if newly hatched
larvae were fed with royal jelly.
