, 2009). In this context, dietary restriction and the consequent lack of available endogenous resources have been shown to cause reduced immune reactivity in Rhodnius prolixus ( Feder et al., 1997), Tenebrio molitor ( Siva-Jothy and Thompson, 2002) and tsetse flies ( Kubi et al., 2006 and Akoda

et al., 2009). Our research interest has been focused on whether and how much the nutritionally dependent processes of protein storage and reproduction are GABA function affected by infection in the honey bee. Insect storage proteins are synthesized in the fat body and secreted into the hemolymph, where they accumulate in large quantities. These proteins are known as vitellogenin (Vg) (Wyatt, 1999 and Raikhel et al., 2005), hexamerins (Hex) (Telfer and Kunkel, 1991)

and lipophorins (Lp) (Soulages and Wells, 1994). Vg, the yolk vitellin precursor, is the major protein in the hemolymph of adult honey bee queens. It is continuously sequestered by the growing oocytes and incorporated into the yolk during vitellogenesis (Engels et al., ABT-737 nmr 1990), thus serving as a nutrient reserve for the eggs and embryos. Except for the workers from the capensis subspecies, which regularly produce diploid female offspring without mating (throughout thelytokous parthenogenesis, Anderson, 1963), even in the presence of the queen ( Moritz et al., 1999 and Beekman et al., 2002), and for a described anarchistic mutant phenotype ( Montague and Oldroyd, 1998), worker reproduction is low in Apis mellifera queenright colonies ( Pirk et al., 2004) where most workers do not reproduce ( Visscher, 1989). Nevertheless, a proportion of them can have functional ovaries and lay haploid male eggs (throughout arrhenotokous parthenogenesis) if separated from the queen ( Jay, 1968 and Visscher, 1996). Like queens, the worker bees

also accumulate Vg in their hemolymph, although at lower Fossariinae levels. Ovary activation in workers entail increased Vg synthesis for incorporation in the growing oocyte ( Engels et al., 1990 and Hartfelder and Engels, 1998). In addition to its essential function in reproduction, Vg has other important physiological roles in the honey bee. It is a zinc carrier protein that is important for hemocyte integrity (Amdam et al., 2004), it regulates the endocrine systems via regulating the juvenile hormone titer (Guidugli et al., 2005), it protects the honey bee against oxidative stress (Seehuus et al., 2006), it is involved in worker longevity (Nelson et al., 2007) and pollen or nectar foraging choice (Ihle et al., 2010). Hexamerins are primarily storage proteins in the insect larvae hemolymph, where they constitute a source of amino acids and energy for metamorphosis (Telfer and Kunkel, 1991).