Apidologie 38 (2007) 545-557
DOI: 10.1051/apido:2007047

Identification of the proteome complement of high royal jelly producing bees (Apis mellifera) during worker larval development

Jianke Li^a, Huawei Li^{a, b}, Zhaohui Zhang^c and Yinghong Pan<sup>c

a</sup>  Institute of Apicultural Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science, Beijing 100093, China
^b  Bioengineering Department, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China,
^c  Institute of Crop Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, The National Key Facility for Crop Gene Resources and Genetic Improvement, 12 Zhongguancun Nandajie, Beijing 100081, China

(Received 22 May 2007 - Revised 21 August 2007 - Accepted 31 August 2007 - Published online 19 February 2008)

Abstract - To investigate the composition and function of the proteome during larval development of worker bees from a strain of Apis mellifera L. artificially selected for increased royal jelly yield, proteins were partially identified by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis, mass spectrometry and protein engine identification tools that were applied to the honeybee genome. Out of 48 high abundance proteins selected for MS fingerprinting, 22 could be identified as representing annotated genes of the honey bee. These including 9 nutrient related proteins, 6 proteins associated with carbohydrate metabolism and energy production, 3 heat shock proteins, 4 other proteins related to the metabolism of amino acids, fatty acid metabolism, larval growth and cell cycle, respectively.

Key words: high royal jelly producing bee / Apis mellifera / larva / peptide mass fingerprint / proteome


© INRA, DIB-AGIB, EDP Sciences 2008