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Prospects in Connecting Genetic Variation to Variation in Fertility in Male Bees - PubMed

️Fri Jan 01 2021

Review

Prospects in Connecting Genetic Variation to Variation in Fertility in Male Bees

Garett P Slater et al. Genes (Basel). 2021.

Abstract

Bees are economically and ecologically important pollinating species. Managed and native bee species face increasing pressures from human-created stressors such as habitat loss, pesticide use, and introduced pathogens. There has been increasing attention towards how each of these factors impacts fertility, especially sperm production and maintenance in males. Here, we turn our attention towards another important factor impacting phenotypic variation: genetics. Using honey bees as a model, we explore the current understanding of how genetic variation within and between populations contributes to variation in sperm production, sperm maintenance, and insemination success among males. We conclude with perspectives and future directions in the study of male fertility in honey bees and non-Apis pollinators more broadly, which still remain largely understudied.

Keywords: honey bee; male fertility; spermatogenesis.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

**Figure 1**
Sperm production in honey bee drones during development. Spermatogenesis, the production of sperm, occurs during late larval and pre-pupae development. Spermiogenesis, sperm differentiation, occurs during pupation. Once honey bee drones emerge as adults, sperm production is already complete. However, drones will produce seminal fluids in the mucus glands during early adult emergence. Photo credit: Amy Geffre.

**Figure 2**
During insemination, drones transfer both spermatozoa and seminal fluids into the queen’s oviduct, which will eventually become stored in the spermatheca. Once stored, queens will use this sperm until death. Photo credit: Amy Geffre.

Cited by

Haploid and Sexual Selection Shape the Rate of Evolution of Genes across the Honey Bee (Apis mellifera L.) Genome.
Slater GP, Dapper AL, Harpur BA. Slater GP, et al. Genome Biol Evol. 2022 May 31;14(6):evac063. doi: 10.1093/gbe/evac063. Genome Biol Evol. 2022. PMID: 35642351 Free PMC article.
Male Reproduction: Regulation, Differentiation and Epigenetics.
Venditti M, Minucci S. Venditti M, et al. Genes (Basel). 2022 Jun 2;13(6):1001. doi: 10.3390/genes13061001. Genes (Basel). 2022. PMID: 35741763 Free PMC article.

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Prospects in Connecting Genetic Variation to Variation in Fertility in Male Bees - PubMed