2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report
Epigenetics of caste differentiation and brain function in honeybees
| Project/Area Number |
26450472
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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 |
Insect science
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| Research Institution | Tamagawa University |
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Principal Investigator |
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| Research Collaborator |
SAKAMOTO Hironori
UGAJIN Atsushi
IKEDA Takashi
ONO Masato
KUBO Takeo
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| Project Period (FY) |
2014-04-01 – 2017-03-31
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| Keywords | エピジェネティックス / DNAメチル化 / ミツバチ / カースト分化 / 性決定遺伝子 / 選択的スプライシング / ゲノム編集 / CRISPR/Cas9 |
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| Outline of Final Research Achievements |
A female larva of honeybee develops into a queen or a worker depending on the diet provided during the larval period. To verify the possibility that sex determination gene is involved in this process of caste differentiation, gene expressions in the fat bodies of adult bees were analyzed. The results suggested that the expressions of two sex determination genes, transformer 2 and doublesex, differ between queen and worker bees. In addition, in order to investigate the epigenetic mechanism underling the task change of worker bees from nursing to foraging, I analyzed methylation profiles of DNA in the brains of worker bees and identified 439 genes of which methylation patterns change. I also attempted genome editing by CRISPR/Cas9 system and successfully knockout the gene encoding the major royal jelly protein 1.
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| Free Research Field |
応用昆虫科学
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