Extending the Honey Bee Venome with the AntimicrobialPeptide Apidaecin and a Protein Resembling Wasp Antigen 5Insect Molecular Biology, Early View Honey bee venom is a complex mixture of toxic proteins andpeptides. In the present study we tried to extend our knowledge of the venomcomposition using two different approaches. First, worker venom was analysed by liquidchromatography-mass spectrometry and this revealed the antimicrobial peptideapidaecin for the first time in such samples. Its expression in the venom glandwas confirmed by reverse transcription PCR and by a peptidomic analysis of thevenom apparatus tissue. Second, genome mining revealed a list of proteins withresemblance to known insect allergens or venom toxins, one of which showedhomology to proteins of the antigen 5 (Ag5)/Sol i 3 cluster. It wasdemonstrated that the honey bee Ag5-like gene is expressed by venom glandtissue of winter bees but not of summer bees. Besides this seasonal variation,it shows an interesting spatial expression pattern with additional productionin the hypopharyngeal glands, the brains and the midgut. Finally, our immunoblot study revealed that both syntheticapidaecin and the Ag5-like recombinant from bacteria evoke no humoral activityin beekeepers. Also, no IgG4-based cross-reactivity was detected between thehoney bee Ag5-like protein and its yellow jacket paralogue Ves v 5.
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