Daily Times

The Cape honey bee, a subspecies found along the southern coast of South Africa, reproduces without having sex. Now, scientists have identified the gene responsible for the bee’s virgin births.

In a study published on May 7, 2020, in Current Biology, researchers from University of Sydney have identified the single gene that determines how Cape honey bees reproduce without ever having sex. One gene, GB45239 on chromosome 11, is responsible for virgin births.

“It is extremely exciting,” said Professor Benjamin Oldroyd in the School of Life and Environmental Sciences. “Scientists have been looking for this gene for the last 30 years. Now that we know it’s on chromosome 11, we have solved a mystery.”

The presence of GB45239 allows Cape honey bee workers to lay eggs that produce only females. In an bee society capable of asexual reproduction, males are mostly useless. But even without the drama of mating, Cape honey bee colonies are often full of strife.

“Cape workers can become genetically reincarnated as a female queen and that prospect changes everything,” Oldroyd said. “Instead of being a cooperative society, Cape honey bee colonies are riven with conflict because any worker can be genetically reincarnated as the next queen. When a colony loses its queen the workers fight and compete to be the mother of the next queen.”

The Cape bee, Apis mellifera capensis, is a subspecies of the western honey bee. The ability to asexually birth daughters — known as “thelytokous parthenogenesis” — isn’t the only trait that sets them apart from their African relatives.

More research is required to decipher the mechanisms behind these virgin births, and potentially find ways to harness them for better pest management.

Pragmatic benefits aside, the discovery contributes a tiny piece of the puzzle surrounding the evolution of sex as a means of procreation.

If nothing else, it’s fascinating that a few mutations in the right place can affect how an entire population’s reproductive strategy works.

“Sex is a weird way to reproduce and yet it is the most common form of reproduction for animals and plants on the planet. It’s a major biological mystery why there is so much sex going on and it doesn’t make evolutionary sense,” says Oldroyd.

“Asexuality is a much more efficient way to reproduce, and every now and then we see a species revert to it.”