TY - JOUR
T1 - The critical period for caste determination in Bombus terrestris and its juvenile hormone correlates
AU - Cnaani, Jonathan
AU - Robinson, Gene E.
AU - Hefetz, Abraham
N1 - Funding Information:
Acknowledgements This research was partly supported by the US-Israel Binational Agriculture Research and Development (BARD) grant No. IS-2306-93 (to A.H. and G.E.R.). We thank Naomi Paz for her editorial assistance. These experiments comply with the ``Principles of animal care'', publication No. 86-23, revised 1985 of the National Institute of Health and also with the current laws of the respective countries in which the experiments were performed.
PY - 2000
Y1 - 2000
N2 - The critical period for caste determination and its juvenile hormone (JH III) correlates were studied in Bombus terrestris. Larvae of known age and instar were taken from young colonies, in which they would have been reared as workers, and placed into groups of queenless workers. Under these conditions the critical age for caste determination was 5 days, during the second instar. Endocrine correlates of caste determination were obtained by determining profiles of juvenile hormone titer and juvenile hormone biosynthesis, measured by chiral-specific radioimmunoassay and the in vitro radiochemical assay, respectively. By the middle of the second instar prospective queen larvae had significantly higher rates of juvenile hormone biosynthesis and juvenile hormone titer than prospective worker larvae. Based on the coincidence of timing of both the critical period and the appearance of caste-specific juvenile hormone titer, we suggest that juvenile hormone plays a role in the mechanisms that control caste determination in B. terrestris.
AB - The critical period for caste determination and its juvenile hormone (JH III) correlates were studied in Bombus terrestris. Larvae of known age and instar were taken from young colonies, in which they would have been reared as workers, and placed into groups of queenless workers. Under these conditions the critical age for caste determination was 5 days, during the second instar. Endocrine correlates of caste determination were obtained by determining profiles of juvenile hormone titer and juvenile hormone biosynthesis, measured by chiral-specific radioimmunoassay and the in vitro radiochemical assay, respectively. By the middle of the second instar prospective queen larvae had significantly higher rates of juvenile hormone biosynthesis and juvenile hormone titer than prospective worker larvae. Based on the coincidence of timing of both the critical period and the appearance of caste-specific juvenile hormone titer, we suggest that juvenile hormone plays a role in the mechanisms that control caste determination in B. terrestris.
KW - Bombus terrestris
KW - Caste determination
KW - Criticalperiod
KW - JH
KW - Social insects
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0034485899&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s003590000163
DO - 10.1007/s003590000163
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AN - SCOPUS:0034485899
VL - 186
SP - 1089
EP - 1094
JO - Journal of Comparative Physiology A: Neuroethology, Sensory, Neural, and Behavioral Physiology
JF - Journal of Comparative Physiology A: Neuroethology, Sensory, Neural, and Behavioral Physiology
SN - 0340-7594
IS - 11
ER -