Analysis of the Differential Gene Expression, by the DD-RTPCR Technique, Of Workers Atta sexdens rubropilosa Mandibular Glands (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

The DD-RTPCR technique is becoming more efficient nowadays to isolate and characterize genes differentially expressed among cells, tissues or individuals, being used here, for the first time in the study of mandibular glands of minina and media workers and soldiers of the ant species Atta sexdens rubropilosa. The expression profile of bands (transcripts), obtained in the present study, permitted the grouping of gene fragments into three distinctive classes. Class I fragments corresponded with those called constitutive genes, which could be associated with the metabolic processes of the mandibular glands. Class II could be the ones that would be codifying more important products in more specific stages than in others, related to the tasks performed in the colony by individuals of different castes. Class III gene fragments (transcripts 1, 2 and 3) must be caste-specific and they were found in the mandibular glands of soldiers (T1), media workers (T2) and minima workers (T3), respectively. Therefore the present study, besides having highlighted the differential gene expression in the mandibular glands of individuals of three castes of A. s. rubropilosa, demonstrated that the DD-RTPCR technique can be one more tool to be used in gene expression analysis, including establishing intra and inter-caste relations in insects.