Molecular Nutrition

Effects of Adding Extra Folic Acid on Quality of Queens for Western Honeybee (Apis mellifera) during Rearing Queens

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  • Honeybee Research Institute, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang 330045, China

Received date: 2017-11-20

  Online published: 2018-07-20

Abstract

This study was designed to determine the effects of adding extra different concentrations of folic acid on the quality of queens for Western honeybee (Apis mellifera) during rearing queens. Queens was caged to lay eggs for 8 hours. The larvae hatched from those eggs were transplanted into queen cells for queen rearing, and fed with 2 μL syrup containing different concentrations of folic acid[0 (group Ⅰ), 0.05 (group Ⅱ), 0.25 (group Ⅲ) and 1.00 mg/kg (group Ⅳ)] for 3 days since the 2nd day of larval stage using a micro sampling syringe injector. The birth weight and thorax width of newly emerged queen from four groups were measured, and the relative expression levels of vitellogenin (Vg), hexamerin 110 (hex110) and hexamerin 70b (hex70b) genes in queen ovaries were also assayed by quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR). The results showed that the birth weight of queens in group Ⅱ was significantly higher than that in groups Ⅰ, Ⅲ and Ⅳ (P<0.05), while there was no significant difference among groups Ⅰ, Ⅲ and Ⅳ (P>0.05). There was no significant difference in thorax width of queens among four groups (P>0.05). The relative expression level of Vg gene in ovary of queens in groups Ⅰ and Ⅲ were significantly higher than that in group Ⅳ (P<0.05), while there was no significant difference among groups Ⅰ, Ⅱ and Ⅲ as well as between groups Ⅱ and Ⅳ(P>0.05). The relative expression level of hex110 gene in ovary of queens was increased firstly and then decreased with the increase of folic acid concentration. The relative expression level of hex110 gene in ovary of queens among the four groups was significantly difference (P<0.05), and that in group Ⅱ was the highest. The relative expression level of hex70b gene in ovary of queens in groups Ⅰ Ⅱ and Ⅲ was significantly higher than that in group Ⅳ (P<0.05), while there was no significant among groups Ⅰ Ⅱ and Ⅲ (P>0.05). In conclusion, the quality of queens for Western honeybee during rearing queens is affected by adding extra folic acid. Adding extra a low concentration of folic acid can increase the birth weight and the expression of hex110 gene in ovary of queens, but adding extra high concentration of folic acid can inhibit the expression of Vg, hex110 and hex70b genes in ovary of queens. So, when rearing queens, folic acid with the concentration of 0.05 mg/kg can be added to improve the quality of the queens.

Cite this article

ZHANG Bo, LIAO Chunhua, ZHAO Fangyuan, WANG Zilong, WU Xiaobo . Effects of Adding Extra Folic Acid on Quality of Queens for Western Honeybee (Apis mellifera) during Rearing Queens[J]. Chinese Journal of Animal Nutrition, 2018 , 30(7) : 2619 -2625 . DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1006-267x.2018.07.021

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