蜂巢结构影响蜜蜂蜂王的发育
中国农业科学院王凯课题组的最新研究提出了蜂巢结构影响蜜蜂蜂王的发育。这一研究成果于2026年6月3日发表在国际顶尖学术期刊《自然》上。
在这里，该课题组人员表明，工蜂的构建行为积极地设计了一个物理化学生态位，这对蜂王的发育至关重要。蜂王细胞表现出明显不同于工蜂细胞的机械和化学特征。这些特性不是工蜂细胞构建的偶然副产品：工蜂故意构建后细胞，并在此过程中经历特定任务的生理和转录组重编程，从而实现这些细胞特性的精确工程。饲养环境的实验操作表明，这些物理化学线索是正常的蚁后发育所必需的，作为一个关键的检查点，可以深刻地影响个体幼虫的发育。总之，他们的研究结果在社会建构行为和发育可塑性之间建立了直接的机制联系，揭示了工程环境如何引导有机命运。
据介绍，群居昆虫的巢结构通常被视为提供遮蔽或储存的静态结构部件。然而，这些构建的环境在多大程度上积极地塑造了生物特征，人们仍然知之甚少。虽然遗传和营养因素决定了蜜蜂的等级，但特化的蜂王细胞的作用主要归因于空间或结构因素，忽视了物理化学微环境的影响。
附：英文原文
Title: Queen cell architecture shapes honey bee queen development
Author: Fang, Yu, Ma, Beibei, Jin, Xiaolu, Buttstedt, Anja, Al Naggar, Yahya, Darragh, Kathy, Tian, Huafeng, Zhu, Yin, Yang, Guan, Yang, Yiying, Huang, Yuan, Li, Wanli, Xu, Rumeng, Li, Jianke, Hu, Fuliang, Wu, Liming, Peng, Wenjun, Xue, Xiaofeng, Baer, Boris, Wang, Kai, Fang, Yu, Ma, Beibei, Jin, Xiaolu, Buttstedt, Anja, Al Naggar, Yahya, Darragh, Kathy, Tian, Huafeng, Zhu, Yin, Yang, Guan, Yang, Yiying, Huang, Yuan, Li, Wanli, Xu, Rumeng, Li, Jianke, Hu, Fuliang, Wu, Liming, Peng, Wenjun, Xue, Xiaofeng, Baer, Boris, Wang, Kai
Issue&Volume: 2026-06-03
Abstract: Nest architecture in social insects is often viewed as a static structural component providing shelter or storage1. However, the extent to which these constructed environments actively shape biological traits remains poorly understood. Although the genetic and nutritional drivers of honey bee caste determination are well established2,3,4, the role for specialized queen cells has largely been attributed to spatial or structural factors, overlooking the influence of the physicochemical microenvironment5. Here we show that worker construction behaviour actively engineers a physicochemical niche that is crucial for queen development in honey bees. Queen cells exhibit distinct mechanical and chemical signatures that differ markedly from those of worker cells. These properties are not an accidental by-product of worker cell construction: workers construct queen cells deliberately and, in doing so, undergo task-specific physiological and transcriptomic reprogramming that enables precise engineering of these cell properties. Experimental manipulations of the rearing environment demonstrate that these physicochemical cues are causally required for normal queen development, functioning as a critical checkpoint that can profoundly influence an individual larva’s development. Together, our results establish a direct mechanistic link between social construction behaviour and developmental plasticity, revealing how an engineered environment can channel organismal fate.
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-026-10534-3
Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-026-10534-3
期刊信息
Nature：《自然》，创刊于1869年。隶属于施普林格·自然出版集团，最新IF：69.504
投稿链接：http://www.nature.com/authors/submit_manuscript.html
