Comparative Transcriptome Analysis of Cold Tolerance Mechanism in Honeybees (<i>Apis mellifera sinisxinyuan</i>)

Abstract

Honeybees are important pollinators worldwide that are closely related to agricultural production and ecological balance. The biological activities and geographical distribution of honeybees are strongly influenced by temperature. However, there is not much research on the cold tolerance of honeybees. The Apis mellifera sinisxinyuan, a kind of western honeybee, exhibits strong cold hardiness. Here, we determined that short-term temperature treatment could regulate the honeybee’s cold tolerance ability by measuring the supercooling point of A. m. sinisxinyuan treated with different temperatures. Transcriptome data were analyzed between the treated and untreated honeybees. A total of 189 differentially expressed genes were identified. Among them, Abra, Pla1, rGC, Hr38, and Maf were differentially expressed in all comparisons. GO and KEGG analysis showed that the DEGs were enriched in molecular functions related to disease, signal transduction, metabolism, and the endocrine system’s function. The main components involved were ribosomes, nucleosomes, proteases, and phosphokinases, among others. This study explored the formation and regulation mechanism of cold tolerance in honeybees, not only providing a theoretical basis for cultivating honeybees with excellent traits but also promoting research and practice on insect stress tolerance.

Keywords

• honeybees
• <i>Apis mellifera sinisxinyuan</i>
• cold tolerance
• transcriptome
• differentially expressed genes