Queen honeybee larvae are genetically identical to female worker bee larvae. Lar
ID: 210009 • Letter: Q
Question
Queen honeybee larvae are genetically identical to female worker bee larvae. Larvae fed ‘royal jelly, a nutritious secretion produced by the hypopharynx of a worker bee, causes the larvae to develop ovaries and grow largar to become another queen bee. Larvae fed a diet without royal jelly secretions develop into normal female worker bees. Adult worker bees have a much lower degree of gene expression than queen bees. How could identical larvae have such differences in gene expression and regulation from larvae diet? How might you test your hypothesis? 1. 2· The ubiquitin-proteasome system is an important regulator of cell growth and apoptosis (programed cell death). Some cancers have been linked to hyper-activity of the ubiquitin-proteasome system. How do you think the ubiquitin-proteasome system relates to cancer growth and why would inhibiting them stop cancer cells?Explanation / Answer
Answer 1) Formulated Hypothesis: Feeding of Royal jelly to female larvae might promote the expression of reproduction-related genes and inhibit the expression of some other genes specifically required for extensive working behavior.
Testing our Hypothesis: Obtain certain identical female larvae from a HoneyBee nest, fed half of them with Royal jelly and normal diet for rest half of female larvae. if half female larvae develop as queens and other half female larvae develop as worker bees, then it confirms the formulated hypothesis.