Proceeding of Veterinary and Animal Science Days 2017, 6th- 8th June, Milan, Italy 

HAF © 2013 

Vol. IV, No. 1s   ISSN: 2283-3927 

   

 

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Keywords 

Hygienic Behavior, Odorant 

Binding Protein, Antennae, Gene 

Expression, RT-PCR 

 

CORRESPONDING AUTHOR 

Elena Facchini 

elena.facchini@unimi.it 

 

JOURNAL HOME PAGE 

riviste.unimi.it/index.php/haf 

Expression monitoring of relevant  

sensitivity genes in honey bee  

antennae and their relationship with  

Hygienic Behavior 

Elena Facchini1*, Francesca Dell’Orco1, Michele Mortarino1,  

Rita Rizzi1 

 

 

 

1University of Milan, Department of Veterinary Medicine, Italy  

 Abstract 

Honeybees are very important microlivestock, not only for the economic value of their productions 

but also for the crucial role they fulfill as pollinators. Recently, colony losses have been recorded 

throughout Europe and the reasons underpinning such phenomenon can be addressed to agro-

chemicals and pathogens. Among the latter, the parasitic mite Varroa destructor is considered the 

principal mortality cause. Hygienic behavior (HB) in honeybee (Apis mellifera) involves the detection 

and removal of brood affected by bacterial, fungal diseases, and parasitization. This behavior is part 

of a series of strategies evolved by social insects known as social immunity, which confers disease 

resistance thanks to the persistent elimination of pathogens and parasites from the hive, limiting their 

multiplication and the infection of other bees. It has previously reported that physiological changes in 

peripheral sense tissues of insects influence the behavioral state of individuals, and it has been 

suggested that changes in gene expression at antennal level can contribute to shifts in the behavioral 

states of honeybees (Vergoz et al., 2009). Moreover, it has previously reported that antennae hold a 

key role in the process of recognition of abnormalities in the brood by honeybees (Mondet et al., 2015). 

The aim of the work was to investigate the expression level of selected genes (Obp3, Obp4, Obp16, 

Obp18, Act5C, Mblk-1) through RealTime-PCR in honeybee antennae. These targets are reported as 

potential biomarkers of HB in previous transcriptomic and proteomic studies (Mondet et al., 2015; 

Guarna et al., 2015). Hygienic behavior has been measured in the field through optimized freeze-killed-

brood method on 10 colonies, from which workers of known age (15 days old) have been collected for 

molecular analysis (Arathi et al., 2000). Preliminary results show that Obp3 is the least expressed 

among the tested genes, but its expression pattern is linked to the HB value; in particular, highly 

hygienic colonies express Obp3 significantly at higher rate with respect to the lower HB group of 

colonies. 

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/deed.en


Proceeding of Veterinary and Animal Science Days 2017, 6th- 8th June, Milan, Italy 

HAF © 2013 

Vol. IV, No. 1s   ISSN: 2283-3927 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/deed.en