Abstract: 【Aim】In honeybee colonies, both drones and queens have fully developed gonads, but they do not reach sexual maturity at the same time. The aim of this study is to explore the gene expression difference of gonads between drones and queens of the Asian honey bee, Apis cerana cerana. 【Methods】Illumina sequencing technology was used to analyze the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the transcriptome between testis of drone and ovary of queen of A. cerana cerana. 【Results】We identified 5 312 DEGs between testis and ovary of A. cerana cerana, among which 2 668 and 2 644 genes were up-regulated in testis and ovary, respectively. We also identified 11 candidate genes related to sex determination, spermatogenesis and oogenesis. These DEGs could be classified into 1 458 GO functional classes and 132 KEGG pathways with four GO entries and two KEGG pathways significantly enriched. 【Conclusion】These results provide valuable gene expression information for the study of the molecular mechanism of reproduction in A. cerana cerana.

Key words: Apis cerana cerana, transcriptome, testis, ovary, differentially expressed genes