Two-step path to shrinking worker bee gonads
(PHYSorg.com Biology)

The dramatic difference in gonad size between honey bee queens and their female workers in response to their distinct diets requires the switching on of a specific genetic program, according to a new study publishing March 21 in the open-access journal PLOS Biology by Annika Roth and Martin Beye of Heinrich-Heine University in Dusseldorf and colleagues. The finding is likely to allow more detailed analysis of the interplay of genes and nutrition that drive caste dimorphism in honey bees.