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The occurrence of vitellogenin in workers and queens of Apis mellifica and the possibility of its transmission to the queen

1974; Elsevier BV; Volume: 20; Issue: 5 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/0022-1910(74)90179-6

1879-1611

W. Rutz, Martin Lüscher,

Bee Products Chemical Analysis

Immuno-diffusion tests show that worker and queen haemolymph contains a protein fraction which does not occur in the haemolymph of drones. Its immunological and electrophoretical properties are identical with those of the main soluble fraction in the ovaries of queens in oviposition. It therefore is a vitellogenin. The titre of this vitellogenin in the haemolymph of 0- to 28-day-old workers was determined by rocket-immunoelectrophoresis. It attains a maximum on day 12. Its changes seem to be positively correlated with the volume of the corpora allata during the first 12 days of adult life. The hypopharyngeal, mandibular, and salivary glands and the content of the honey stomach of workers were immunologically examined. Vitellogenin could not be found in these organs nor in worker or royal jelly. It is also absent from the digestive tract of queens. 14C-labelled amino acids were injected into 5-day-old workers. Later the uptake of radioactive proteins by the queen was examined. Autoradiography of immuno-diffusion plates showed that within 72 hr active material passed from the injected workers into the eggs laid by the queen. The soluble proteins were extracted from the ovaries and the thorax of the queens and their radioactivity determined. The ratio of ovary to thorax radioactivity of queens directly injected was significantly different from that of queens kept with injected workers. Several proteins of the homogenized hypopharyngeal glands of workers showed precipitation reactions with the antiserum against homogenate of queen ovaries. This together with the results of the tracer experiments indicates that the proteins of the worker hypopharyngeal glands may be precursors of queen yolk components.