Meeting Abstract

P2.72  Saturday, Jan. 5  Seasonal Timing and Gene Expression in the Blue Orchard Bee Osmia lignaria TORSON, A/S*; KEMP, W/P; RINEHART, J/P; YOCUM, G/D; BOWSHER, J/H; North Dakota State University; USDA-ARS Red River Valley Agricultural Research Center; USDA-ARS Red River Valley Agricultural Research Center; USDA-ARS Red River Valley Agricultural Research Center; North Dakota State Univeristy Alex.S.Torson@ndsu.edu

The blue orchard bee, Osmia lignaria, a native North American megachilid bee with an affinity for orchard tree species, especially almonds, is being developed as an alternative pollinator to the honeybee (Apis melifera). During development, Osmia lignaria experiences two periods of extended dormancy. The first occurs during the prepupal stage in late summer and lasts one to two months in UT populations studied thus far. However, it is currently unclear whether this is a true diapause. The second is understood to be a true diapause and occurs during the overwintering period after the cocooned prepupae have developed into adults. The genetic pathways regulating diapause in these bees are currently unknown. In this study, a host of candidate genes known to be differentially expressed during diapause in other insects will be assayed using real-time quantitative PCR to determine: 1) If changes in gene expression are witnessed in diapausing versus non-diapausing individuals, 2) If there are equivalent gene expression profiles during prepupal and adult dormancy, and 3) whether gene expression patterns support the hypothesis that the summer dormancy period is a true diapause.