ArticlePLoS genetics2010
Down-regulation of honey bee IRS gene biases behavior toward food rich in protein.
Article in PLoS genetics, 2010. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 46 papers.
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Who cites it
46 citing papers in PubMed, 101 citations in OpenAlex.
- Protein craving links larval signals to food provisioning in honey bees.Science advances · 2026Article
- Deformed wing virus affects foraging success and foraging specialization of honeybee workers.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- AI-enhanced marker-assisted selection concept for the multifunctional honey bee (Hymenoptera: Apidea) protein Vitellogenin (Vg).Journal of economic entomology · 2025Article
- Remodeling of Cellular Respiration and Insulin Signaling Are Part of a Shared Stress Response in Divergent Bee Species.Insects · 2025Article
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- Uncovering the function of insulin receptor substrate in termites' immunity through active immunization.Journal of insect science (Online) · 2024Article
- Comparative Study of the Effect of Pollen Substitute Diets on Honey Bees during Early Spring.Insects · 2024Article
- The diverse roles of insulin signaling in insect behavior.Frontiers in insect science · 2024Review
- Honey bee functional genomics using symbiont-mediated RNAi.Nature protocols · 2023Review
- Viral species differentially influence macronutrient preferences based on honey bee genotype.Biology open · 2022Article
- Societies to genes: can we get there from here?Genetics · 2021Article
- Social modulation of ageing: mechanisms, ecology, evolution.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2021Review
- Article
- Insulin Receptor Substrate Gene Knockdown Accelerates Behavioural Maturation and Shortens Lifespan in Honeybee Workers.Insects · 2019Article
- Ferritin RNA interference inhibits the formation of iron granules in the trophocytes of worker honey bees (Apis mellifera).Scientific reports · 2019Article
- Honey bee (Apis mellifera) larval pheromones may regulate gene expression related to foraging task specialization.BMC genomics · 2019Article
- Horizons in the evolution of aging.BMC biology · 2018Review
- Beyond Royalactin and a master inducer explanation of phenotypic plasticity in honey bees.Communications biology · 2018Review
- Diverse Factors Affecting Efficiency of RNAi in Honey Bee Viruses.Frontiers in genetics · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 1 institution in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Food choice and eating behavior affect health and longevity. Large-scale research efforts aim to understand the molecular and social/behavioral mechanisms of energy homeostasis, body weight, and food intake. Honey bees (Apis mellifera) could provide a model for these studies since individuals vary in food-related behavior and social factors can be controlled. Here, we examine a potential role of peripheral insulin receptor substrate (IRS) expression in honey bee foraging behavior. IRS is central to cellular nutrient sensing through transduction of insulin/insulin-like signals (IIS). By reducing peripheral IRS gene expression and IRS protein amount with the use of RNA interference (RNAi), we demonstrate that IRS influences foraging choice in two standard strains selected for different food-hoarding behavior. Compared with controls, IRS knockdowns bias their foraging effort toward protein (pollen) rather than toward carbohydrate (nectar) sources. Through control experiments, we establish that IRS does not influence the bees' sucrose sensory response, a modality that is generally associated with food-related behavior and specifically correlated with the foraging preference of honey bees. These results reveal a new affector pathway of honey bee social foraging, and suggest that IRS expressed in peripheral tissue can modulate an insect's foraging choice between protein and carbohydrate sources.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.