Longevity Extension of Worker Honey Bees () by Royal Jelly: Optimal Dose and Active Ingredient

Overview

Journal PeerJ

Specialties Biology
Environmental Health
General Medicine

Date 2017 Apr 4

PMID 28367370

Citations 14

Authors

Wenchao Yang

Yuanyuan Tian

Mingfeng Han

Xiaoqing Miao

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

In the Western honey bee, , queens and workers have different longevity although they share the same genome. Queens consume royal jelly (RJ) as the main food throughout their life, including as adults, but workers only eat worker jelly when they are larvae less than 3 days old. In order to explore the effect of RJ and the components affecting longevity of worker honey bees, we first determined the optimal dose for prolonging longevity of workers as 4% RJ in 50% sucrose solution, and developed a method of obtaining long lived workers. We then compared the effects of longevity extension by RJ 4% with bee-collected pollen from rapeseed (). Lastly, we determined that a water soluble RJ protein obtained by precipitation with 60% ammonium sulfate (RJP) contained the main component for longevity extension after comparing the effects of RJ crude protein extract (RJCP), RJP (obtained by precipitation with 30% ammonium sulfate), and RJ ethanol extract (RJEE). Understanding what regulates worker longevity has potential to help increase colony productivity and improve crop pollination efficiency.

Citing Articles

Thioredoxin System in Insects: Uncovering the Roles of Thioredoxins and Thioredoxin Reductase beyond the Antioxidant Defences.

Greskova A, Petrivalsky M Insects. 2024; 15(10).

PMID: 39452373 PMC: 11508645. DOI: 10.3390/insects15100797.

Exploring bee venom and silver nanoparticles for controlling foulbrood pathogen and enhancing lifespan of honeybees.

El-Sayied Ali S, El-Ghannam G, Hashish M, Elsayed H, Ali A, Marzouk W Sci Rep. 2024; 14(1):19013.

PMID: 39152125 PMC: 11329661. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-67515-7.

Queen bee gut microbiota extends honeybee lifespan by inhibiting insulin signaling.

Wang H, Chen W, Lei L, Zhang W, Liu Z, Wang Y Appl Environ Microbiol. 2024; 90(4):e0179923.

PMID: 38470148 PMC: 11022582. DOI: 10.1128/aem.01799-23.

Epigenetics Mechanisms of Honeybees: Secrets of Royal Jelly.

Alhosin M Epigenet Insights. 2023; 16:25168657231213717.

PMID: 38033464 PMC: 10687967. DOI: 10.1177/25168657231213717.

Autophagy Is Required to Sustain Increased Intestinal Cell Proliferation during Phenotypic Plasticity Changes in Honey Bee ().

Guo Y, Hu R, Li N, Li N, Wu J, Yu H Int J Mol Sci. 2023; 24(3).

PMID: 36768248 PMC: 9916008. DOI: 10.3390/ijms24031926.

References

Buttstedt A, Ihling C, Pietzsch M, Moritz R . Royalactin is not a royal making of a queen. Nature. 2016; 537(7621):E10-2. DOI: 10.1038/nature19349. View

Honda Y, Fujita Y, Maruyama H, Araki Y, Ichihara K, Sato A . Lifespan-extending effects of royal jelly and its related substances on the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. PLoS One. 2011; 6(8):e23527. PMC: 3153499. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0023527. View

Kamakura M . Kamakura replies. Nature. 2016; 537(7621):E13. DOI: 10.1038/nature19350. View

Paoli P, Wakeling L, Wright G, Ford D . The dietary proportion of essential amino acids and Sir2 influence lifespan in the honeybee. Age (Dordr). 2014; 36(3):9649. PMC: 4082578. DOI: 10.1007/s11357-014-9649-9. View

Smedal B, Brynem M, Kreibich C, Amdam G . Brood pheromone suppresses physiology of extreme longevity in honeybees (Apis mellifera). J Exp Biol. 2009; 212(Pt 23):3795-801. DOI: 10.1242/jeb.035063. View

Wegener J, Huang Z, Lorenz M, Bienefeld K . Regulation of hypopharyngeal gland activity and oogenesis in honey bee (Apis mellifera) workers. J Insect Physiol. 2009; 55(8):716-25. DOI: 10.1016/j.jinsphys.2009.05.003. View

Altaye S, Pirk C, Crewe R, Nicolson S . Convergence of carbohydrate-biased intake targets in caged worker honeybees fed different protein sources. J Exp Biol. 2010; 213(Pt 19):3311-8. DOI: 10.1242/jeb.046953. View

Fujita T, Kozuka-Hata H, Ao-Kondo H, Kunieda T, Oyama M, Kubo T . Proteomic analysis of the royal jelly and characterization of the functions of its derivation glands in the honeybee. J Proteome Res. 2012; 12(1):404-11. DOI: 10.1021/pr300700e. View

Matsuyama S, Nagao T, Sasaki K . Consumption of tyrosine in royal jelly increases brain levels of dopamine and tyramine and promotes transition from normal to reproductive workers in queenless honey bee colonies. Gen Comp Endocrinol. 2014; 211:1-8. DOI: 10.1016/j.ygcen.2014.11.005. View

10.

Kamakura M . Royalactin induces queen differentiation in honeybees. Nature. 2011; 473(7348):478-83. DOI: 10.1038/nature10093. View

11.

Alaux C, Ducloz F, Crauser D, Conte Y . Diet effects on honeybee immunocompetence. Biol Lett. 2010; 6(4):562-5. PMC: 2936196. DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2009.0986. View

12.

Wu J, Anelli C, Sheppard W . Sub-lethal effects of pesticide residues in brood comb on worker honey bee (Apis mellifera) development and longevity. PLoS One. 2011; 6(2):e14720. PMC: 3044129. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0014720. View

13.

Foret S, Kucharski R, Pellegrini M, Feng S, Jacobsen S, Robinson G . DNA methylation dynamics, metabolic fluxes, gene splicing, and alternative phenotypes in honey bees. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2012; 109(13):4968-73. PMC: 3324026. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1202392109. View

14.

Yang K, Wu D, Ye X, Liu D, Chen J, Sun P . Characterization of chemical composition of bee pollen in China. J Agric Food Chem. 2012; 61(3):708-18. DOI: 10.1021/jf304056b. View

15.

Di Pasquale G, Salignon M, Conte Y, Belzunces L, Decourtye A, Kretzschmar A . Influence of pollen nutrition on honey bee health: do pollen quality and diversity matter?. PLoS One. 2013; 8(8):e72016. PMC: 3733843. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0072016. View

16.

Lyko F, Foret S, Kucharski R, Wolf S, Falckenhayn C, Maleszka R . The honey bee epigenomes: differential methylation of brain DNA in queens and workers. PLoS Biol. 2010; 8(11):e1000506. PMC: 2970541. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1000506. View

17.

Shi Y, Huang Z, Zeng Z, Wang Z, Wu X, Yan W . Diet and cell size both affect queen-worker differentiation through DNA methylation in honey bees (Apis mellifera, Apidae). PLoS One. 2011; 6(4):e18808. PMC: 3082534. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0018808. View

18.

Milbrath M, Tran T, Huang W, Solter L, Tarpy D, Lawrence F . Comparative virulence and competition between Nosema apis and Nosema ceranae in honey bees (Apis mellifera). J Invertebr Pathol. 2014; 125:9-15. DOI: 10.1016/j.jip.2014.12.006. View

19.

Page Jr R, Peng C . Aging and development in social insects with emphasis on the honey bee, Apis mellifera L. Exp Gerontol. 2001; 36(4-6):695-711. DOI: 10.1016/s0531-5565(00)00236-9. View

20.

Inoue S, Koya-Miyata S, Ushio S, Iwaki K, Ikeda M, Kurimoto M . Royal Jelly prolongs the life span of C3H/HeJ mice: correlation with reduced DNA damage. Exp Gerontol. 2003; 38(9):965-9. DOI: 10.1016/s0531-5565(03)00165-7. View