Expression of melittin gene in the venom gland of the Chinese honeybee, Apis cerana cerana

Jiang-Hong Li , Chuan-Xi Zhang , Zhen-Hua Tang

Melittin is the principal component of bee venom. Melittin in Apis cerana (Ac-melt) is a single copy gene. A full length Ac-melt cDNA is 389 bp, with a single 191 bp intron in the genome. Its mRNA level was high during the first week of adult life and low during the rest of adult life. Melittin or its precursor could not be detected in the pupal stage. Melittin level increased rapidly to its maximum (about 95 $\mu$g per worker bee) during the first 8-10 days of adult age, and remained constant for about 20 days before starting to decline slowly. The expression of melittin is regulated at the transcriptional level.

Mots clés: Melittin; gene expression; venom gland; Apis cerana

Domaines: Zoologie des invertébrés; Biodiversité; Ecologie, Environnement; Science des productions animales

Jiang-Hong Li, Chuan-Xi Zhang, Zhen-Hua Tang. Expression of melittin gene in the venom gland of the Chinese honeybee, Apis cerana cerana. Apidologie, 2005, 36 (4), pp.533-541. ⟨hal-00892163⟩