Egg transcriptome profile responds to maternal virus infection in honey bees, Apis mellifera.

Egg transcriptome profile responds to maternal virus infection in honey bees, Apis mellifera. Infect Genet Evol. 2020 Sep 15;:104558 Authors: Amiri E, Herman JJ, Strand MK, Tarpy DR, Rueppell O Abstract Trans-generational disease effects include vertical pathogen transmission but also immune priming to enhance offspring immunity. Accordingly, the survival consequences of maternal virus infection can vary and its molecular consequences during early development are poorly understood. The honey bee queen is long-lived and represents the central hub for vertical virus transmission as the sole reproductive individual in her colony. Even though virus symptoms in queens are mild, viral infection may have severe consequences for the offspring. Thus, transcriptome patterns during early developmental are predicted to respond to maternal virus infection. To test this hypothesis, gene expression patterns were compared among pooled honey bee eggs laid by queens that were either infected with Deformed wing virus (DWV1), Sacbrood virus (SBV2), both viruses (DWV and SBV), or no virus. Whole transcriptome analyses revealed significant expression differences of a few genes, some of which have hitherto no known function. Despite the paucity of single gene effects, functional enrichment analyses revealed numerous biological processes in the embryos to be affected by virus infection. Effects on several regulatory pathways were consistent with maternal re...
Source: Infection, Genetics and Evolution - Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Authors: Tags: Infect Genet Evol Source Type: research