Validation of Antioxidant and Immune Related Gene Members Among Apis Cerana Species of South India by Quantitative Real-Time PCR

Mary Stella Bhupanapadu Sunkesula, M. S. Reddy

Apis cerana, Antioxidant genes, CYP6AS3 and CYP6AS10, Natural vs Captive.

Apis cerana most widely found bee species of southern parts of India is now at stress. Due to the increasing bee cultivation centres, these bees are under tremendous stress levels from both external and internal agents. External agents might be due to constant application of miticides and other chemical compounds. Wild varieties which are in a free setup, though infected by Varroa mites, could face little pressure.

We designed to study the effect of the habitat settings (natural and captive) on the bee species. Natural ones are those which are seen in forests, trees and other house roofs. Captive are those seen among the bee keeping centres. Antioxidant and immune related gene members were studied for their expression levels between the natural and captive environments.

As hypothesized, we found significant effects on the expression of the gene members. Bees kept in captivity showed over expression of both antioxidant and immune related genes when compared to the natural bees. Ribosomal protein (RP4) was used as housekeeping gene throughout the study. Among them 2 members, CYP6AS3 and CYP6AS10 showed contradictory results. Their expression was little more in natural bees when compared to the captive bees.  

This study could pave ways of how to effectively manage the bees among the cultivated centres so as to get more yields, keeping in view of the colony collapse disorder. This validation studies could also throw knowledge on the actual mechanism involved in the stress regulation among this sweet little bees.