{"id":284,"date":"2020-08-18T01:06:11","date_gmt":"2020-08-18T01:06:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grad.biology.ualberta.ca\/rueppell\/?page_id=284"},"modified":"2026-03-28T03:34:55","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T03:34:55","slug":"genetics-of-complex-traits","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/grad.biology.ualberta.ca\/rueppell\/genetics-of-complex-traits\/","title":{"rendered":"Genetics of Complex Traits"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Most important traits in life are complex and we study the genetic architecture of several such traits to explore the connection between genotype and phenotype. We have performed quantitative trait locus mapping of behavioral traits (the rate of behavioral ontogeny and sucrose responsiveness), and ovary size in worker honey bees, which plays an important role in phenotypic differentiation among workers. More recently, we have also performed transcriptome studies to get a system level understanding of different behavioral states and we are also turning our attention to traits that are relevant to honey bee health, such as stress responses, virus resistance, and disease progression.<\/p>\n<div>\n<table class=\"simple-table lg-table\" width=\"100%\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"text-align: center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-339 size-full aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/grad.biology.ualberta.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/72\/2020\/09\/Ovary-Size-QTL-e1600205384221.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"233\" height=\"150\" \/><\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-532 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/grad.biology.ualberta.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/72\/2020\/09\/Heatmap-Option1-e1600205408814.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"274\" height=\"150\" \/><\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-812\" src=\"https:\/\/grad.biology.ualberta.ca\/rueppell\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/72\/2023\/10\/Ovaries-300x208.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"208\" srcset=\"https:\/\/grad.biology.ualberta.ca\/rueppell\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/72\/2023\/10\/Ovaries-300x208.jpg 300w, https:\/\/grad.biology.ualberta.ca\/rueppell\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/72\/2023\/10\/Ovaries.jpg 610w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>Example Studies:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Toor G., Lu R.X., Rueppell O. (2026) Susceptibility to the neonicotinoid pesticide imidacloprid is linked to life history regulation in honey bees (<em>Apis mellifera<\/em>). <u>Molecular Ecology<\/u>, 35: e70305.<\/p>\n<p>Lu RX, Bhatia S, Simone-Finstrom M, Rueppell O. (2023) Quantitative trait loci mapping for survival of virus infection and virus levels in honey bees. <span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Infection, Genetics and Evolution<\/span> 116, 105534.<\/p>\n<p>Fang Y., Feng M., Ma C., Rueppell O., Li J. (2023) Major royal jelly proteins influence the neurobiological regulation of the division of labor among honey bee workers. <span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">International Journal of Biological Macromolecules<\/span> 225:848-860.<\/p>\n<p>Han B., Wei Q., Amiri E., Hu H., Meng L., Strand M.K., Tarpy D.R., Xu S., Li J., Rueppell O. (2022) The molecular basis of socially induced egg-size plasticity in honey bees. <span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">eLife<\/span> 11:e80499.<\/p>\n<p>Fouks B., Brand P., Nguyen H.N., Herman J., Camara F., Ence D., Hagen D.E., Hoff K.J., Nachweide S., Romoth L., Walden K.K.O., Guigo R., Stanke M., Narzisi G., Yandell M., Robertson H.M., Koeniger N., Chantawannakul P., Schatz M.C., Worley K.C., Robinson G.E., Elsik C.G., Rueppell O. (2021) The genomic basis of evolutionary differentiation among honey bees. <u>Genome Research<\/u>, doi: <span class=\"slug-metadata-note ahead-of-print\"><span class=\"slug-doi\" title=\"10.1101\/gr.272310.120\">10.1101\/gr.272310.120<\/span><\/span>.<\/p>\n<p>Han B., Wei Q., Wu F., Hu H., Ma C., Meng L., Zhang X., Feng M., Fang Y., Rueppell O., Li J., (2021) Tachykinin signaling inhibits task-specific behavioral responsiveness in honeybee workers. <u>eLife<\/u>, 10: e64830.<\/p>\n<p>Amiri E., Le K., Vega-Melendez C., Strand M.K., Tarpy D.R., Rueppell O. (2020) Egg-size plasticity in <em>Apis mellifera<\/em>: honey bee queens alter egg size in response to both genetic and environmental factors. <u>Journal of Evolutionary Biology<\/u>,33(4): 534-543.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Most important traits in life are complex and we study the genetic architecture of several such traits to explore the connection between genotype and phenotype. We have performed quantitative trait <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/grad.biology.ualberta.ca\/rueppell\/genetics-of-complex-traits\/\">Continue Reading &rarr;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2143,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-284","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/grad.biology.ualberta.ca\/rueppell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/284","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/grad.biology.ualberta.ca\/rueppell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/grad.biology.ualberta.ca\/rueppell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grad.biology.ualberta.ca\/rueppell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2143"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grad.biology.ualberta.ca\/rueppell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=284"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/grad.biology.ualberta.ca\/rueppell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/284\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1104,"href":"https:\/\/grad.biology.ualberta.ca\/rueppell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/284\/revisions\/1104"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/grad.biology.ualberta.ca\/rueppell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=284"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}