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Title: Insights into social insects from the genome of the honeybee Apis mellifera

Author
item GIBBS, RICHARD
item WEINSTOCK, GEORGE
item Evans, Jay
item MALESZKA, RYSZARD
item ROBERTSON, HUGH
item ROBINSON, GENE
item WEAVER, DANIEL
item WORLEY, KIM
item BEYE, MARTIN
item BORK, PEER
item ELSIK, CHRISTINE
item HARTFELDER, KLAUS
item HUNT, GREG
item ZDOBNOV, EVGENY
item AMDAM, GRO
item BITONDI, MARCIA
item Collins, Anita
item CRISTINO, ALEXANDRE
item LAFFORFF, H. MICHAEL
item LOBO, CARLOS
item MORITZ, ROBIN
item NUNES, FRANCIS
item SIMOES, ZILA
item WHEELER, DIANA
item Hackett, Kevin
item Aronstein, Katherine
item Lopez, Dawn
item DeCanini, Laura
item Chen, Yanping - Judy
item SAKAZUME, NAOKO
item SASAKI, DAISUKE
item TAGAMI, MICHIHIRA
item ALBERT, STEFAN
item BAGGERMAN, GEERT
item BEGGS, KYLE
item BLOCH, GUY
item CAZZAMALI, GIUSEPPE
item DRAPEAU, MARK
item EISENHARDT, DOROTHEA
item EMORE, CHRISTINE
item EWING, MICHAEL
item FORET, SYLVAIN
item GRIMMELIKHUIJZEN, CORNELIS
item HAUSER, FRANK
item HUMMON, AMANDA
item HUYBRECHTS, JURGEN
item JONES, ANDREW
item KAPLAN, NOAM
item KUCHARSKI, ROBERT
item LEBOULLE, GERARD
item LINIAL, MICHAL
item LITTLETON, TROY
item MERCER, ALISON
item RICHMAND, TIMOTHY
item RODRIGUEZ-ZAS, SANDRA
item RUBIN, ELAD
item SATTELLE, DAVID
item SCHLIPALIUS, DAVID
item SCHOOFS, LILIANE
item SWEEDLER, JONATHAN
item VERLEYEN, PETER
item VIERSTRAETE, EVY
item WILLIAMS, GABRIELLE
item WILLIAMSON, MICHAEL
item AMENT, SETH
item BROWN, SUSAN
item CORONA, MIQUEL
item DEARDEN, PETER
item DUNN, AUGUSTINE
item ELEKONICH, MICHELLE
item FAHRBACH, SUSAN
item FUJIYUKI, TOMOKO
item GATTERMEIER, IRENE
item GEMPE, TANJA
item HASSELMANN, MARTIN
item KADOWAKI, TATSUHIKO
item KAGE, ERIKO
item KAMIKOUCHI, AZUSA
item KUBO, TAKEO
item KUNIEDA, TAKEKAZU
item Lorenzen, Marce
item MILSHINA, NATALIA
item MORIOKA, MIZUE
item MOUGEL, FLORENCE
item OHASHI, KAZUAKI
item OVERBEEK, ROSS
item PAGE, ROBERT
item ROSS, CHRISTIAN
item SCHIOETT, MORTEN
item SHIPPY, TERESA
item TAKEUCHI, HIDEAKI
item TOTH, AMY
item VELARDE, RODRIGO
item WILLIS, JUDITH
item WILSON, MEGAN
item BERENBAUM, MAY
item COHEN, MIRA
item GORDON, KARL
item LETUNIC, IVICA

Submitted to: Nature
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/1/2006
Publication Date: 10/26/2006
Citation: Gibbs, R.A., Weinstock, G.M., Evans, J.D., Maleszka, R., Robertson, H.M., Robinson, G.E., Weaver, D.B., Worley, K.C., Beye, M., Bork, P., Elsik, C.G., Hartfelder, K., Hunt, G.J., Zdobnov, E.M., Amdam, G.V., Bitondi, M.M., Collins, A.M., Cristino, A.S., Lafforff, H.G., Lobo, C.H., Moritz, R.F., Nunes, F.M., Simoes, Z.L., Wheeler, D., Hackett, K.J., Aronstein, K.A., Lopez, D.L., Decanini, L.I., Chen, Y., Sakazume, N., Sasaki, D., Tagami, M., Albert, S., Baggerman, G., Beggs, K.T., Bloch, G., Cazzamali, G., Drapeau, M.D., Eisenhardt, D., Emore, C., Ewing, M.A., Foret, S., Grimmelikhuijzen, C.U., Hauser, F., Hummon, A.B., Huybrechts, J., Jones, A.K., Kaplan, N., Kucharski, R., Leboulle, G., Linial, M., Littleton, T.J., Mercer, A.R., Richmand, T.A., Rodriguez-Zas, S.L., Rubin, E.B., Sattelle, D.B., Schlipalius, D., Schoofs, L., Sweedler, J.V., Verleyen, P., Vierstraete, E., Williams, G., Williamson, M.R., Ament, S.A., Brown, S.J., Corona, M., Dearden, P.K., Dunn, A.W., Elekonich, M.M., Fahrbach, S.E., Fujiyuki, T., Gattermeier, I., Gempe, T., Hasselmann, M., Kadowaki, T., Kage, E., Kamikouchi, A., Kubo, T., Kunieda, T., Lorenzen, M.D., Milshina, N.V., Morioka, M., Mougel, F., Ohashi, K., Overbeek, R., Page, R.E., Ross, C.A., Schioett, M., Shippy, T., Takeuchi, H., Toth, A.L., Velarde, R., Willis, J.H., Wilson, M.J., Berenbaum, M.R., Cohen, M., Gordon, K.H., Letunic, I. et al. 2006. Insights into social insects from the genome of the honeybee Apis mellifera. Nature. 443:931-949.

Interpretive Summary: Honey bees are a key species for agriculture, providing pollination services, honey, and other hive products worldwide with a yearly economic impact in the tens of billions of dollars. Genetic tools have long been used in honey bees to understand nutrition, disease resistance, behavior, and the healthy development of queens, workers, and males. This project describes the single largest improvement of honey bee genetic tools to date, the sequencing and description of the entire honey bee genome. This characterization provides thousands of genetic ‘markers’ that will help bee breeders and researchers improve existing stock. Perhaps more importantly, this genome project has provided precise details into the genetic traits of healthy bees, allowing a more complete ‘veterinary’ approach to bee health. Given the main sponsors for the project (the U.S. National Institutes of Health and USDA-ARS), it is expected that heightened interest and opportunities in honey bee genetics will help improve human health, as well as the health of bees and other agricultural species. Tangible results that will help researchers, regulatory agencies, and beekeepers in the short term include a full delineation between European and Africanized bees, a toolkit of all honey bee immune genes, and new ways to identify the impacts of environmental stress on honey bee behavior and health. These insights are reported in this paper and in a set of topical companion papers.

Technical Abstract: We report the genome sequence of a highly social insect, the honey bee, Apis mellifera, a key model for social behavior as well as an essential component of global ecology through pollination activities. The genome is analyzed primarily from two perspectives: broad comparative analyses, with special reference to other insect genomes, and interpretation, whenever possible, of the honey bee genome to sociality. We expect the sequence of the honey bee genome will enhance discovery in diverse areas including allergic disease, development, gerontology, infectious disease, mental illness, neuroscience, parasitology, social behavior, and venom toxicology, and improve human nutrition by enabling enhanced pollination of food plants.