Regulation of behaviorally associated gene networks in worker honey bee ovaries. Author Ying Wang, Sarah Kocher, Timothy Linksvayer, Christina Grozinger, Robert Page, Gro Amdam V Publication Year 2012 Type Journal Article Abstract Several lines of evidence support genetic links between ovary size and division of labor in worker honey bees. However, it is largely unknown how ovaries influence behavior. To address this question, we first performed transcriptional profiling on worker ovaries from two genotypes that differ in social behavior and ovary size. Then, we contrasted the differentially expressed ovarian genes with six sets of available brain transcriptomes. Finally, we probed behavior-related candidate gene networks in wild-type ovaries of different sizes. We found differential expression in 2151 ovarian transcripts in these artificially selected honey bee strains, corresponding to approximately 20.3% of the predicted gene set of honey bees. Differences in gene expression overlapped significantly with changes in the brain transcriptomes. Differentially expressed genes were associated with neural signal transmission (tyramine receptor, TYR) and ecdysteroid signaling; two independently tested nuclear hormone receptors (HR46 and ftz-f1) were also significantly correlated with ovary size in wild-type bees. We suggest that the correspondence between ovary and brain transcriptomes identified here indicates systemic regulatory networks among hormones (juvenile hormone and ecdysteroids), pheromones (queen mandibular pheromone), reproductive organs and nervous tissues in worker honey bees. Furthermore, robust correlations between ovary size and neuraland endocrine response genes are consistent with the hypothesized roles of the ovaries in honey bee behavioral regulation. Journal The Journal of experimental biology Volume 215 Issue Pt 1 Pages 124-34 Date Published 01/2012 ISSN Number 1477-9145 DOI 10.1242/jeb.060889 Alternate Journal J Exp Biol PMCID PMC3233392 PMID 22162860 PubMedPubMed CentralGoogle ScholarBibTeXEndNote X3 XML