Free Access
Issue
Apidologie
Volume 25, Number 6, 1994
Page(s) 596 - 600
DOI https://doi.org/10.1051/apido:19940610
Apidologie 25 (1994) 596-600
DOI: 10.1051/apido:19940610

New approach to the study of division of labour in the honeybee colony (Apis mellifera L)

J. Klaudinya, J. Kulifajováa, K. Crailsheimb and J. Simútha

a  Laboratory for Genetic Engineering, Institute of Chemistry, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dubravská cesta, 9, 842 38 Bratislava, Slovakia
b  Karl-Franzens-Universität, Institut für Zoologie, Universitätsplatz, 2, A-8010 Graz, Austria

Abstract - Using Northern analysis we determined differences in the transcription level of 4 mRNAs (coding for larval food proteins) in the heads of sister worker bees, which were either foragers or nurses rearing the larvae of workers, drones and queens. The ratio of the isolated total RNAs from the heads of these bee samples was estimated as 1:2:1.9:3.6, respectively.


Key words: Apis mellifera / division of labour / larval food / Northern analysis / mRNA / total RNA