Gene expression and immunohistochemical analyses of mKast suggest its late pupal and adult-specific functions in the honeybee brain

In insect brains, the mushroom bodies (MBs, a higher center) comprise intrinsic neurons, termed Kenyon cells (KCs). We previously showed that the honeybee (Apis mellifera L.) MBs comprise four types of KCs, in addition to the previously known three types of KCs: class I large-type KCs (lKCs), class I small-type KCs (sKCs) and class II KCs, novel class I ‘middle-type’ KCs (mKCs), which are characterized by the preferential expression of a gene, termed mKast. Although mKast was originally discovered during the search for genes whose expression is enriched in the optic lobes (OLs) in the worker brain, subsequent analysis revealed that the gene is expressed in an mKC-preferential manner in the MBs. To gain more insights into the function of mKast in the honeybee brain, we here performed expression analysis of mKast and immunohistochemistry of the mKast protein. Prominent mKast expression was first detected in the brain after the P7 pupal stage. In addition, mKast was expressed almost selectively in the brain, suggesting its late pupal and adult specific functions in the brain. Immunohistochemistry revealed that mKast-like immunoreactivity is detected in several regions in the worker brain: inside and around the MB calyces, at the outer edges of the OL lobula, at the outer surface of and posterior to the antennal lobes (ALs), along the dorsal midline of the anterior brain and at the outer surface of the subesophageal ganglions (SOG). mKast-like immunoreactivities in the MBs, OLs, ALs and SOG were due to the corresponding neurons, while mKast-like immunoreactivities beneath/between the MB calyces were assumed to most likely correspond to the lateral/medial neurosecretory cells.