Five heat shock protein 70 (hsp70) isoforms (hsc70-3, hsc70-4, hsc70-5, hsc70cb, hsp70Ab) of Apis mellifera were identified from Honeybee genome database. Specific primers for each isoform were designed for the quantitative realtime RT-PCR analysis, then analyzed transcript levels of the abdomen of adult workers (3-4 weeks old) in respond to heat shock and imidacloprid ingestion. Heat shock at 45°C for 1 h induced all 5 genes but highest in hsc70cb, hsp70Ab. Ingestion of imidacloprid pesticide did not change any hsp70 isoforms at 33°C but those bees also highly responsive to heat shock at 45°C. In addition, expression level of each hsp70 isoform was various and heat shock response of each isoform was tissue-specific. For example, hsc70-3 was highest in midgut, hsc70-4 was in hypopharyngeal gland, but hsp70Ab was in fat bodies. However, heat shock response of all 5 isoforms was the highest in the fat body than brain, hypopharyngeal gland, midgut, flight muscle and integument. Our results provide information for the understanding of complicated protective mechanism of honey bee against thermal stress.

• Jinmo Koo(College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Kyungpook National University)
• Tae-GwonSon(Apple, Kyungpook National University)
• Soo-Yeon Kim(Gyeongsangbook-Do Agricultural Research & Extension Service)
• Kyeong-Yeoll Lee(College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Kyungpook National University, Institute of Plant Medicine, Kyungpook National University)