Molecular characterization of MRJP3, highly polymorphic protein of honeybee (Apis mellifera) royal jelly

Major proteins of honey bee (Apis mellifera) royal jelly are members of the MRJP protein family. One MRJP protein termed MRJP3 exhibits a size polymor phism as detected by SDS-PACE. In this report we show that polymorphism of the MRJP3 protein is a consequence of the polymorphism of a region with a v ariable number of tandem repeats (VNTR) located at the C-terminal part of t he MRJP3 coding region. We present the characterization of five polymorphic alleles of MRJP3 by DNA sequencing. By PCR analyses, at least 10 alleles o f distinct sizes were found in randomly sampled bees. Studies with nurse be es from a single honeybee colony revealed both Mendelian inheritance and ve ry high variability of the MRJPS genomic locus. The high variability and si mple detection of the MRJP3 polymorphism may be useful for genotyping of in dividuals in studies of the honeybee. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All ri ghts reserved.