2013 Fiscal Year Final Research Report
Epigenetics of insect polymorphism
| Project/Area Number |
23580079
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Multi-year Fund |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
Applied entomology
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| Research Institution | Tamagawa University |
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Principal Investigator |
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| Project Period (FY) |
2011 – 2013
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| Keywords | エピジェネティックス / ミツバチ / アブラムシ / 多型発現 / カースト分化 |
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| Research Abstract |
Many insects exhibit polymorphism, producing different forms from the same genome. Such examples include queen and worker caste differentiation in honeybees and development of alate (winged) and apterous (non-winged) morphs in aphids. To investigate the epigenetic mechanisms underlying the occurrence of polymorphism, genome-wide methylation profiles were analyzed in the European honeybee, Apis mellifera, and in the pea aphids, Acyrthosiphon pisum. In the honeybee, 1,717 CpG sites were found to be differently methylated between the two castes. Interestingly, differently methylated genes included several sex-determining genes, implying that genes for sex determination might be also involved in caste differentiation. In the aphids, 226 were differently methylated between the two morphs.
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