The association between the hypopharyngeal glands and the molecular mechanism which honey bees secrete royal jelly

AbstractRoyal jelly (RJ), a substance secreted by the hypopharyngeal and mandibular glands of nurse worker bees, is widely used in medical products, dietary supplements, health foods, and cosmetics, owing to its potential health benefits. An understanding of secretory glands, such as the hypopharyngeal glands (HGs), and their interactions are necessary for RJ secretion. The RJ production cycle should be expanded for more effective production, which requires additional experience and training. However, the association between RJ secretion and HGs levels remains unclear. To close this gap, we conducted this review to investigate the most recent advancements in HGs and RJ secretion in Apis mellifera. These include techniques for enhancing RJ production, the morphology of HGs, RJ biological and effectiveness in the treatment of diseases, a comparison of the secretion of RJ signaling pathways in honey bees, associated genes, the proteins of HGs, and elements that could affect the secretion of HGs and the mechanism of RJ secretion. In order to help bee products strategy, our review may be valuable for a better understanding of the association between HGs and RJ secretion.The heads of bees have secretory glands, especially hypopharyngeal glands (HGs), and mandibular glands located in front of the worker bees head, which secretes through the mouthparts with three main functions: Saliva to mix with food, larval feeding secretion, chemicals to communicate with other bees, and anesthetic chemicals. HGs: Contain royal jelly (RJ) protein in nurse bees; however, invertase in foragers. Often changes function with age, in the young bee’s lipids for RJ; old bees alarm pheromone 2-haptanone, and Isopentylic acetate.Keywords: Apis melliferahypopharyngeal glandsroyal jellyproductionsecretion AcknowledgmentsWe are grateful to Mr. Richard Weir for his constructive comments during the preparation.Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.Additional informationFundingThis work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [No. 31772684], the China Agriculture Research System of MOF, and MARA [No. CARS-44-KXJ4].