{"id":{"repo_id":"uwo","oai_identifier":"oai:uwo.scholaris.ca:20.500.14721/29674"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/uwo/oai:uwo.scholaris.ca:20.500.14721/29674","repository":{"repo_id":"uwo","name":"Western University","base_url":"https://uwo.scholaris.ca/server/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"RNA interference of worker sterility genes: Testing mechanisms of reproductive regulation in Apis mellifera","abstract":"Social insects such as the honey bee (Apis mellifera) are well known for their reproductive division of labour and eusocial colony systems. Honey bee workers forgo reproduction in favour of being selfless in directing reproductive benefits towards their queen mother. This altruistic tendency is a result of both behavioural and physiological changes under control of the presence of the queen’s mandibular pheromone. The genetic mechanism that underlies this response is, however, not well understood. Here, this study used RNA interference to knock down the expression of single genes (fruitless and ftz-f1) that have been previously identified as influential in regulating this response to the queen’s pheromone. Cage experiments were performed to monitor changes to worker behaviour, gene expression and physiology. This study could not conclusively confirm that the target genes were indeed knocked down (due to small sample size); however, it was determined that certain ftz-f1 siRNA treatments caused a significant impact on the ovarian development of the worker bees. Future studies would need to confirm that this is due to that fact that the gene was knocked down.","abstract_html":"Social insects such as the honey bee (Apis mellifera) are well known for their reproductive division of labour and eusocial colony systems. Honey bee workers forgo reproduction in favour of being selfless in directing reproductive benefits towards their queen mother. This altruistic tendency is a result of both behavioural and physiological changes under control of the presence of the queen’s mandibular pheromone. The genetic mechanism that underlies this response is, however, not well understood. Here, this study used RNA interference to knock down the expression of single genes (fruitless and ftz-f1) that have been previously identified as influential in regulating this response to the queen’s pheromone. Cage experiments were performed to monitor changes to worker behaviour, gene expression and physiology. This study could not conclusively confirm that the target genes were indeed knocked down (due to small sample size); however, it was determined that certain ftz-f1 siRNA treatments caused a significant impact on the ovarian development of the worker bees. Future studies would need to confirm that this is due to that fact that the gene was knocked down.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Gallo, Anthony J"],"institution":"The University of Western Ontario","degree_name":"M Sc","degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":"Biology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Thompson, Graham J."],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2019,"date_issued":"2019-09-25","date_published":"2019-09-25","updated_at":"2026-07-27T21:55:54Z","subjects":["Honey bees","social genetics","worker sterility","RNA interference","eusociality","altruism"],"languages":["en_ca"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14721/29674","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Thompson, Graham J."]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Gallo, Anthony J"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2025-07-10T18:33:00Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2025-07-10T18:33:00Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2019-09-25"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["The University of Western Ontario"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Biology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["M Sc"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Honey bees","social genetics","worker sterility","RNA interference","eusociality","altruism"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["en_ca"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14721/29674"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["The thesis cover page in the PDF document includes references to Western University’s previous institutional repository platform, known as Scholarship@Western, and links to that platform (beginning with ir.lib.uwo.ca). In citing or referring to this thesis, use the DOI or handle from this page instead. Sample citation: Author name, \"Thesis title.\" (Year). Western University Open Repository. https://doi.org/10.71858/123456."]},{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Social insects such as the honey bee (Apis mellifera) are well known for their reproductive division of labour and eusocial colony systems. Honey bee workers forgo reproduction in favour of being selfless in directing reproductive benefits towards their queen mother. This altruistic tendency is a result of both behavioural and physiological changes under control of the presence of the queen’s mandibular pheromone. The genetic mechanism that underlies this response is, however, not well understood. Here, this study used RNA interference to knock down the expression of single genes (fruitless and ftz-f1) that have been previously identified as influential in regulating this response to the queen’s pheromone. Cage experiments were performed to monitor changes to worker behaviour, gene expression and physiology. This study could not conclusively confirm that the target genes were indeed knocked down (due to small sample size); however, it was determined that certain ftz-f1 siRNA treatments caused a significant impact on the ovarian development of the worker bees. Future studies would need to confirm that this is due to that fact that the gene was knocked down."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["RNA interference of worker sterility genes: Testing mechanisms of reproductive regulation in Apis mellifera"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Thompson, Graham J."],"dc:creator":["Gallo, Anthony J"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2025-07-10T18:33:00Z"],"dc:date.available":["2025-07-10T18:33:00Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2019-09-25"],"dc:description":["The thesis cover page in the PDF document includes references to Western University’s previous institutional repository platform, known as Scholarship@Western, and links to that platform (beginning with ir.lib.uwo.ca). In citing or referring to this thesis, use the DOI or handle from this page instead. Sample citation: Author name, \"Thesis title.\" (Year). Western University Open Repository. https://doi.org/10.71858/123456."],"dc:description.abstract":["Social insects such as the honey bee (Apis mellifera) are well known for their reproductive division of labour and eusocial colony systems. Honey bee workers forgo reproduction in favour of being selfless in directing reproductive benefits towards their queen mother. This altruistic tendency is a result of both behavioural and physiological changes under control of the presence of the queen’s mandibular pheromone. The genetic mechanism that underlies this response is, however, not well understood. Here, this study used RNA interference to knock down the expression of single genes (fruitless and ftz-f1) that have been previously identified as influential in regulating this response to the queen’s pheromone. Cage experiments were performed to monitor changes to worker behaviour, gene expression and physiology. This study could not conclusively confirm that the target genes were indeed knocked down (due to small sample size); however, it was determined that certain ftz-f1 siRNA treatments caused a significant impact on the ovarian development of the worker bees. Future studies would need to confirm that this is due to that fact that the gene was knocked down."],"dc:identifier.uri":["https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14721/29674"],"dc:language.iso":["en_ca"],"dc:publisher":["The University of Western Ontario"],"dc:subject":["Honey bees","social genetics","worker sterility","RNA interference","eusociality","altruism"],"dc:title":["RNA interference of worker sterility genes: Testing mechanisms of reproductive regulation in Apis mellifera"],"dc:type":["thesis"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Biology"],"thesis:degree_name":["M Sc"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-27T21:55:54Z"}